


A Family of Brats

by AriaofYlisse, GhostiesandGhoulies



Series: Riren Family [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, Babies, Children, Daddy Eren, Family, Fluff, M/M, Mild Smut, Mpreg, Mpreg Eren Yeager, Post Mpreg, Teasing, Twins, papa levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-18 19:46:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9400466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AriaofYlisse/pseuds/AriaofYlisse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostiesandGhoulies/pseuds/GhostiesandGhoulies
Summary: Eren and Levi begin their new adventure as parents of twins. Basically the couple's adventures through parenthood. The story of a little Riren family. Past Mpreg Eren. Gay. Don't like don't read.





	1. New Dads

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the sequel of Experimenting with Miracles!!  
> Me and Ghosties are currently writing furiously in order to try and keep updates FAIRLY regular, so we hope you guys enjoy! This will follow Levi and Eren's adventures in parenthood so buckle up for a fun ride :)  
> Note: We do not own Attack on Titan or the characters belonging thusly.

It had nearly been a month and a half since the twins had been born, and Eren still couldn't get over how cute they were. He stood over them as they lay surrounded by pillows on his and Levi's bed, a wide smile on his face. They were still small given their early arrival, but they were strong and healthy and developing surprisingly fast.

His heart swelled every single time he laid eyes on their darling forms, he loved them so very much. "You're Daddy's little sweethearts huh?" He murmured to them.

"You act like they're going to understand you," Levi commented behind him. He strode further into the room and joined his spouse in looking over their children. "You make cute ass kids," he said lightly.

Eren flushed slightly and leaned into him, "Always having them around makes me wonder what filled our time before they came along."

His lover smirked crookedly and smacked him on the ass, the resounding yelp widening his smirk. "I can think of a few things. One of which we've only done once since the twins were born."

The younger male smiled shyly, "Well… we've been busy with the babies… it's hard to find time."

"What if we made time?"

He cocked his head to the side in question, "What do you mean?"

Levi ran a hand up his back, sending chills down his spine. "What if we had someone else watch them for the night? Say your crazy sister and coconut head friend."

Eren pondered it for a moment. Part of him wanting to keep their infant children close in fear of anything happening to them while he wasn't there, but another part of him missed the bonding time he and Levi had shared before their children had arrived. He bit at his lip. Perhaps it was time to part with them for a night. Levi had been acting pretty cranky lately, he was clearly ready to do the deed again.

His husband's sensual touches continued and he shivered. He could give it a shot, he liked the sound of a night with Levi, even if he was sure to be sore the next day. "Okay," he breathed, "let's ask Armin and Mikasa if they mind.." Although even as he said it, he knew they wouldn't. The two, and everyone else really, had already become quite attached to their darling offspring. Looking back at them, he definitely understood why.

Despite this, he was still a bit unsure about the situation, mainly due to his newly developing paternal instincts acting up and bringing to mind all the things that could possibly go wrong. He tried to quiet the rampant thoughts, assuring himself with the knowledge of just who he would be entrusting his babies to.

The admittedly sexy smirk he received after having agreed to ask, was an all-telling sign of what their night would consist of. He honestly couldn't say he wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

Armin and Mikasa had of course not minded whatsoever in watching the twins for the night, in fact they took their niece and nephew over easily and shooed away the new parents rather quickly.

Seeing as they had no responsibilities with their kids well taken care of, they decided to indulge themselves to a nice meal and a small amount of wine. It was quiet but extremely pleasant, definitely setting the mood for the evening ahead.

Once finished, the two headed back to their room and locked the door behind them. It wasn't long before things started to get handsy. As they laid in bed, Levi's hands started to wander, relishing in his lover's lush hips. It had been weeks since they had done it-almost since the babies had been born. And Levi quite frankly was missing the feel of his husband underneath him.

"Do you think they're okay?" Eren asked suddenly, completely oblivious to Levi's longing touches.

The man grunted, giving it a momentary thought. The babies were in safe hands and it was well into the night-they were probably already sound asleep.

"They're fine, Eren. They should be fast asleep by now," the raven smirked, "However I can't say the same for us right now…"

Levi leaned down, slowly lifting up his lover's shirt and caressing the taut skin of his stomach. He trailed his lips up Eren's neck, leaving feather light kisses in his wake before biting down on his pulse point. Eren whined a bit, but he still seemed distracted.

"Eren…?"

The man turned his head away. Levi held his chin and turned him back to face him.

"What's wrong?"

Eren sighed, "I just…miss them."

Levi raised an eyebrow, "The babies?"

The brunette's cheeks grew pink and he nodded.

It was Levi's turn to sigh, "It does feel kind of...quiet huh?"

Eren nodded again, biting his lip.

"And I want to do it, I do but I just keep thinking about them and if they're alright and then I feel bad and I miss them _really_ bad…!"

Levi rubbed his brow, sighing and getting off of his lover.

"I understand."

Eren frowned, "No! Levi I wanna do it! L-let's try again."

And so they did. Levi climbed back on top of Eren grinding against his husband and kissing and marking his neck. Eren moaned and fiddled with the buttons on Levi's shirt and pants. Things were slowly getting heated, but even then neither of them seemed to be totally into it.

"L-Levi…?"

He lifted his head, "Yeah?"

"What if one of them has a nightmare?"

Levi groaned, "Eren they're babies. They probably don't even dream."

"Okay well maybe they'll need a diaper change!"

"You told Armin and Mikasa how to change them. They'll be _fine,_ Eren."

The younger male seemed unimpressed.

"Can't we just go check on them once?"

"No, Eren. We have to trust them."

"I do trust them! I just…want to make sure…"

Levi sighed. Then there was a bump down the hall. And a soft whine like a crying child. Both immediately looked up, on high alert to the sounds of their babies.

"Okay, maybe we can check just once," Levi conceded.

And that was all the convincing Eren needed. They were both dressed and walking down the hall toward their children within five minutes.

* * *

"Out," Mikasa commanded.

"B-but, we just need to check and see if they're alright…!" Eren blubbered.

The raven haired girl scowled.

"Do you not trust us Eren?"

Eren shook his head madly, "No I do I just-!"

"Then leave," she instructed.

"Just once," Eren begged.

Mikasa looked to Levi. The man shrugged but nodded.

"Just once," he assured her.

She frowned and opened the door to the nursery. Eren immediately rushed in, noting how there was no crying or screaming inside. His babies were lying the in crib peacefully, not crying, not frowning. They looked very blissful and happy. He sighed in relief.

"Now leave," Mikasa commanded, her voice still quiet, so as to not wake the babies.

Eren frowned, "B-but...we can stay and watch them. We don't mind…"

"No."

Armin walked in the room then, holding a box and looking flustered.

"Armin what's wrong?" Eren asked, confused.

The blonde handed him the box and turned away bashfully. Eren was horrified when he looked at the label-it was a box of condoms. The brunette looked up in shock at his friend.

He just gave him a determined smile, still coated in blush, "Go get laid, Eren. We can handle this."

The shifter stood there in absolute shock. But Levi was not so surprised. He grabbed Eren by the collar and began to drag him toward the door, looking over his shoulder thankfully at the two soldiers.

"We'll get on that," Levi assured.

* * *

They were back in the room, but Eren still didn't seem to be feeling it.

"Eren your babies are fine," Levi groaned, finally starting getting frustrated.

"I know…" he mumbled back.

Levi smirked. Who would've known that his brat had such a maternal instinct? Somehow the thought just made Eren more attractive-a good husband, _and_ a good father. What more could Levi ask for? Well, except for a little bit of action.

"I know you're upset, but I have something that might make you feel better..." Levi crooned into his lover's ear.

The successful shiver he received from Eren was encouraging.

"How about we make another baby, hmmm?" the man teased.

"Sure, okay."

Levi looked at his lover in surprise. "Eren I was joking."

Eren pouted, "Well I'd _love_ to have another!"

Levi groaned again, "Maybe someday brat, but why don't you enjoy the ones you have for now? Too many children under the age of five can get hectic."

Teal eyes gleamed at Levi's response, "But we can have another?"

Levi pinched his brow, "Yes."

Eren looked ecstatic.

"But for now…"

The teen looked up at him curiously.

"Let's get you out of these clothes," Levi purred.

And for the first time all night, Eren actually felt into the idea. Their bodies molded together perfectly as they kissed, and their bodies heated up. Before long, moans were filling the room from Eren and some grunts from Levi. Their wild lovemaking, as always, could be heard all around headquarters.

A long needed escapade brought to fruition as they left their new lives behind for a slice of the old.


	2. Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter all! Hope you guys enjoy!  
> Note: We do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters belonging thusly. We just play with them :)

“Levi!” the call came from somewhere off the field.

The captain turned around slowly, prepared to admonish whatever fool had interrupted the monologue he has giving the newest recruits. Then he saw his husband, and his words stopped in their tracks although he was still agitated. What that brat need from him  _ right now _ of all times? He should know not to interrupt him while he's working--it wasn't like they never saw each other.

As the man approached, Levi could see he had their two small children in tow. They must've been out on a walk.

“Can I help you?” he asked his husband cooly, trying to retain his image as a harsh leader. He didn't want the recruits to think he was a softie if they saw how he usually treated his Eren.

The younger just smiled brightly, oblivious to the chill in his tone.

“Hi, babe! Me and the babies just came by to say ‘hi’!”

Eren turned the twins to face their Papa. They grunted in recognition when they saw him. It was completely adorable, but Levi tried to let the image slide past him. He had to look strong and immovable.

“Nice to see you,” he said blandly, “But as you can see I'm a little busy.”

Eren just smiled, ignoring his husband's cool tone again and turning to look over the recruits. He scrutinized them for a bit before turning back to his husband.

“The babies need some fresh air so we'll be out here for a bit. We'll try not to distract you too much though,” Eren said, a small tease in his tone.

Levi scoffed, “Tch. As if I'd get distracted.”

Eren smiled and went off in the other direction, finding a nice shady spot to sit and watch with his children. He turned back to his recruits then, scowling at the few that had dared to start side conversations in the minute he'd been distracted. They immediately went back on alert at his poisonous gaze.

“Alright,” he said with impatience, “Now that that's over, does anyone have any questions about the exercise?”

A girl in the back raised her hand timidly. 

Levi nodded in her direction, “Yes. You.”

The girl stepped forward a bit, obviously concerned about what she was about to say.

“Are those...your kids, sir?”

Levi was taken aback for a second.  _ Did she really just ask me that?  _ He felt irritance push its way to the surface but willed it down. She was just a dumb recruit--while her question was uncalled for and inappropriate, he couldn't just give her a tongue-lashing for it; or he shouldn't anyway.

Instead he just scowled, “Anyone with a question related to the actual exercise?”

Another cadet raised their hand.

“Yes,” Levi called on them.

“Could you possibly repeat the end sir? I was distracted when I saw your husband and kids. You see we don't get to see babies very often anymore since we're in the corps…”

Levi stared blatantly at the boy. Was he fucking serious? These kids had hopes of being trained killers and yet were swayed by the sight of infants? He seriously wanted to slam his head on a wall right now.

“If you are distracted by such small things I have little hope for you cadet,” he said coldly. Then he repeated his instructions carefully.

“Anything else?” the Captain asked once more.

Another girl’s hand shot up.

“Sir if I may be so bold, I think we would all do better in the exercise if we could meet your kids afterwards! As incentive!”

That was it. Levi slammed his head into his palms, groaning in frustration.

“Fine! Now will you all shut the hell up about the damn brats?!”

The cadets nodded as a collective whole.

“Good. Now get running, and I'd better not see any slackers!”

The cadets immediately began their laps, their energy suddenly renewed with the prospect of getting to play with babies afterwards. Levi couldn't say he was very happy about the deal--who knew what type of disgusting germs the recruits would get all over his precious children? But he supposed there was little he he could do about it, so he just watched the cadets run in mild distaste.

Unsurprisingly, the three cadets that had asked about the babies were running the fastest, determined to complete their exercise in record time. It made Levi almost prideful, knowing his children were such gems to these troops. But again they were just brats, and their opinions meant little to him. He made eye contact with Eren from across the field and waved him over. The man cocked his head curiously but sauntered over anyway.

“What's wrong?” Eren asked, seeing his husband's displeased look.

“These dumbass brats want to play with our kids,” he explained, disgust in his tone.

Eren grinned, “Aw that's sweet.”

Levi frowned at him, “They're going to spread their disgusting germs all over them, Eren.”

The younger shrugged, “Hanji said they need some exposure to everyday germs, Levi. What's more every day around here than our troops?”

Perhaps he was right, but that didn't mean Levi had to like it. There was a protective instinct taking over him at the moment, making him want to take his babies and hide them away from these filthy strangers. But again, that wasn't really an option. Despite his often cruel nature, he was always true to his word when it came to his underlings. 

The three cadets were done, of course, in record time. They rushed up immediately to Levi and Eren.

They each did a rushed, sloppy salute--one that Levi wanted to admonish them for, but held back.

“Sir! We finished the exercise! Please introduce us to your kids sir!” begged the bolder of the two girls.

Levi groaned at their annoying enthusiasm.

“This,” Eren picked up, bouncing the boy child in his arm, “is Cayden Lee. And this--” He motioned to the girl, “is Hazel Grace.”

The cadets ogled at the babies, cooing like idiots and babbling like the kids could understand it anymore than Levi.

“What are they like, Lieutenant Eren?” asked the male cadet. “Do they get along well? They're twins right?”

Eren nodded, “They are. And they get along great.”

As if one cue, the babies babbled at each other, reaching for one another and grasping onto the other’s onesies. The cadets awed at the sight.

“They tend to be pretty well behaved too. Although sometimes when one cries so does the other, even if they're fine.”

At that point, even Levi pitched in, “Hazel is dramatic. She cries a lot more, especially if she wants to be held. Cayden is much more reserved.”

“Gets it from you,” Eren chimed, holding the male child out for his father to hold.

Levi hesitated, not wanting to look weak with a baby in his hands, but decided he didn't care. He took the baby from his Daddy and held him close. The quieter girl looked about ready to burst from cuteness when she saw that.

“They're absolutely adorable, sir!” the quiet girl gushed.

Eren smiled at her.

“Thank you,” he said, nuzzling his daughter’s hair gently. 

Levi scoffed at the happy twinkle in his husband's eyes and handed the baby back off to him. The rest of the troops were finally finishing up their laps, so he had work to do. He pecked Eren's cheek and ruffled the hair on each of the twins’ heads. 

“Troops, fall in!”

Luckily, they seemed keen to listen to him after their laps, which made them much easier to work with. He ordered for them to stretch in preparation for 3DM training, having learned in the past that if such an opportunity wasn’t given, he usually had a surplus of them that wanted to complain. He had no time for such petty things.

While they were stretching, Eren came back over with the twins and offered him a knowing smile. “Try not to call them out on their incompetencies too much, babe.”

The raven gave him a sideways glare that held no real heat. “The shitstains need to get these things right. I’m going to point out every sloppy maneuver. If they’re meant to be among us, they’ll correct themselves or at least show an effort to.”

Eren rolled his eyes. The day Levi went easy on the newbies would also be the day hell froze over. “Oh fine, whatever,” he huffed. “I’m taking the babies in. I’m worried about them getting burned from the sun, and it’s nearing lunchtime.”

He couldn’t help but half smirk as Eren’s recurring ‘motherly nature’ made itself known. He was always worrying and fussing over his babies, all with the intent that they would grow up healthy. Though even Levi could admit that watching him interact so lovingly with their children made his heart swell a bit, no matter how ridiculous his actions seemed at times.

“I’ll meet with you after this,” he said finally, “I’m sure I’ll be sick of these brats’ shit before this exercise is up.”

His brunette lover surprised him by leaning in and planting a firm kiss on his lips, pulling away with a look of satisfaction.

“What the hell was that?” He growled. Normally he wouldn’t have minded, but being out in the open in front of troops he was supposed to be intimidating, it annoyed him.

Eren shrugged nonchalantly and began walking away, “Breaking the hearts of all the doe eyed females and laying claims.”

Levi’s brow furrowed with frustration. He glared harshly at a few wandering eyes and crossed his arms. “Damn brat,” he muttered.

* * *

Eren didn’t see his husband until a few hours after that. He, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie and Sasha had lingered in the dining hall after everyone else had left. Mikasa and Armin sat across from one another on the wooden floor, with the twins in their laps facing each other. Hazel and Cayden batted at each other occasionally but babbled aimlessly for the most part.

He sat on one of the benches, watching the two with a content smile.

Levi entered with a low sigh, immediately making his way to Eren’s side.

The brunette leaned into him as soon as he sat down, wrapping an arm around his back. “You okay babe?”

“Fine,” he answered shortly, “just tired of the bullshit that comes with planning an expedition.”

Eren frowned, “Did Erwin schedule another meeting?”

“Yes, set for this evening after dinner.” Levi’s tone gave away his annoyance at the prospect of another meeting, there had been several already earlier in the week. It was a trend that would no doubt continue until the expedition was approved by the Expedition Committee. He reciprocated Eren’s hold and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Are you going to stay at the house again?”

His younger lover visibly lightened and peered up at him with a bright smile. “Of course! It's finally finished and ready to live in! Plus the babies slept more soundly there than they have in recent times here.”

For the past few months, a crew had been building their two story cottage on a plot of land not too far from the Survey Corps Headquarters within Wall Rose. It was secluded but not too much so that they would be cut off from everything. They didn't have so many friends with the townspeople given the nature of their relationship, plus they wanted to hide the true identity of their children from others for as long as possible. All of which was why Levi had deemed it necessary to have a home on the far edges of town.

“We still have a lot of stuff to move over from here,” Eren commented.

Levi huffed in response, “We’ll get to it once these damn meetings are over with. Then I'll be able to focus more.”

He hummed in response, eyes trailing back to watch their children interact with each other, much to the delight of his friends.

“So I guess you'll be home late again?”

“Probably.”

Eren pouted, “I hardly see you anymore, Levi.”

His lover rolled his eyes, “Not much I can do about it, brat. Eyebrows already gave me as much time off as he could.”

The shifter scoffed, “Yeah,  _ three months. _ That doesn't amount to much.”

Levi raised a brow then, a bit miffed. “Why are you bringing this up now? I've been back to full work for six months now..”

“Because I miss you,” was his grumpy response.

“And you didn't before?” That earned him a glare.

“You know perfectly well I did,” he said articulately. “But the twins are getting more active, it's harder to do things by myself.” Eren sighed and averted his gaze. “I miss you..” he finished pathetically.

“Always the needy brat, aren't you?”

The brunette pulled away and crossed his arms in a full on pout.

Levi took the opportunity to really observe his spouse. His shoulders were slumped slightly and light bags were obvious under his eyes, he apparently was running on limited energy, not sleeping well for whatever reason. His hair was more ruffled than usual suggesting that he hadn't had a chance to really relax and groom himself. Even his clothes were rumpled in places, which Levi knew through experience that it probably meant he hadn't had a chance to catch up on their washing. 

All of this told him what Eren wasn't saying; he was getting run down and needed Levi to take over for a day or two.

“I'll talk to Erwin to see if I can work out something, but I'm not promising shit.”

Eren's smile made the ordeal he would no doubt face, worth it.

“Thanks Levi.” He murmured genuinely, leaning in for a kiss.

Levi met him halfway and grumbled absently.

The duo fell quiet as they both took to watching their children, hands interlocked.

“Oh,” Eren said with a nudge, “those cadets from before found me again and asked more about the babies.”

He grunted in acknowledgement.

He smiled in memory, “Hazel let one of them hold her but Cayden wasn't having it. He put out his bottom lip and started fussing, oh it was so cute! He really is like a little you, I love it.”

“Of course he wouldn't want a stranger to hold him,” Levi said, “who knows where their fucking hands have been..”

His lover gave him a cheesy grin, “He’s Papa’s boy and Hazel’s my girl.”

It really was interesting how their combined traits showed up in the twins. Cayden was definitely more like Levi while Hazel took after Eren, though every once in awhile an expression or action would reflect the opposite parent. Hanji absolutely loved observing them and trying to pick out their personality traits.

Their separate musings were broken by the sound of Hazel beginning to fuss.

“Uh oh,” Armin laughed, “someone’s getting grumpy.” He lifted her from his lap in offering to his friend.

Eren immediately stood and scooped her up, patting her back. “Yeah it’s time for your nap, huh babies?”

From Mikasa’s arms, Cayden looked up and cooed in curiosity.

The brunette smile and passed Hazel to her Papa, then snatching up his son who yawned and babbled quietly to him. “Thanks for keeping them occupied guys,” he thanked as he and Levi headed for the door.

“No problem, you know it’s no trouble,” Armin told him happily.

“Until it comes to feeding and changing them that is,” Eren teased.

“We’re adapting,” Mikasa shot right back, “you had to too, Eren.”

“Yeah yeah.”

With that, they left the room and escorted their sleepy babies to their suite on the other side of headquarters. Hazel had all but curled up against Levi, her big eyes drooping as she hovered on the cusp of sleep.

“She really is like you,” Levi remarked as he resituated her again in his arms. “Curling up like some kind of damn cat…”

“Only around you,” he said with a grin, “before you, I usually took up the entire bed. I’m surprised she isn’t more like that.. Maybe Cayden yells at her.”

“Eren, it'd just be psychobabble, nothing more.”

He grinned wider, “You don’t know that! Maybe they are talking but it’s in their language and we don’t understand.”

Levi merely rolled his eyes in response, patting Hazel’s back in attempt to settle her the rest of the way to sleep.

They entered their room quietly and went into their naptime routine, shutting the blinds, straightening the sheets in the crib, and washing up the twins’ faces as they had been very slobbery as of late - a telltale sign of developing teeth.

The quiet of the room was suddenly broken by Eren’s cheerful laughter, “Levi, you  _ need _ to see Cayden's face right now.”

The raven haired man turned to his lover curiously. He set down the girl twin in the crib and walked over to where his husband was cradling their son.

“What about it?” he asked.

Eren laughed and held up the baby as he came close. The boy looked upset, his entire brow furrowed deeply into a scary frown. He looked like he was concentrating hard on something, or ready to berate someone for doing a shitty job cleaning. The face was harrowingly similar to the scowls only Levi could pull off. The man couldn't help but smile at that face.

“He looks pissed,” he mused to his lover.

“He looks like  _ you,”  _ Eren teased.

Levi scowled, “What? You trying to tell me something?”

Eren laughed at his husband's obvious teasing. 

“Oh I don't know...just looks like you when you're about to beat Connie’s ass for slacking off again.”

Levi chuckled lowly, taking the baby gently from his spouse and holding him close to his face. He turned the baby to face his Daddy and put on another scowl to compare.

“How's this?” Levi asked.

Eren laughed even harder. Seeing the baby's face next to his lover's was even better--they looked so honestly similar. Dark hair, sharp eyes, deep scowl--the only difference was the rosy cheeks versus the sharp cheekbones. It was hilarious and adorable all at once.

Until the baby started grunting. And a large fart ripped through the room. 

Eren stared at the baby in surprise, realizing what had happened when the smell hit his nose.

“Fucking disgusting!” Levi cursed under his breath, quickly passing the stinky baby to his husband. “He just took a shit in my arms!”

Eren just stared at the baby as it started to sniffle, uncomfortable in his now dirty diaper. 

“So those faces...mean he was shitting I guess,” Eren surmised with a little chuckle. He looked up at his husband, eyebrow raised, “Do you scowl like that when you shit too, babe?”

Levi smacked Eren in the side of the head.

“What kind of question is that?” he asked, scowling again. “Just clean the damn thing! He's gonna cry soon if he doesn't get a changing…”

Eren laughed lifting the whimpering child up, “Did you poo? Do you need a new diaper, baby?”

Cayden began to cry. Eren sighed and lifted the baby up.

“You know you're going to have to change some of these diapers someday,” Eren mused.

Levi's nose scrunched up, “I've cleaned a few.”

“Yeah,  _ a few _ ,” Eren laughed. “Why don't you take Mr. Stinkypants here? At least help me change him. He's wriggly.”

Levi rolled his eyes, “Fine.”


	3. The Brats Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to installation number three of A Family of Brats! How about some cute fluff for you before the storm that is next chapter? Sound good? Good!
> 
> Note: We do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters belonging thusly. But we do own the babies ;)
> 
> ~Aria and the Ghosts

He was making the bed. It was one of the daily chores that Levi expected him to complete each day while he worked, and it was simple and easy. Wipe the windows, make the bed, clean the bathrooms, sweep the floors, and take care of the twins. It might’ve been a lot for anyone else, but with the already extensive cleanliness of the house and Eren’s now superb cleaning skills, it was next to nothing.

He only really ever had a problem when the twins decided to throw a fit. Today was one of those days.

Just as he pulled the sheets taut, he heard a shout from the other room. Though they were still young and hadn’t really developed any speech, Eren could still differentiate the twins from their cries. Hazel had a loud, songful voice, where Cayden’s was more whiney and soft. The distressed grunts seemed to belong to his son. The new dad dropped the comforter where it lay and jogged back into the living room where the twins were playing.

“Cayden? Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked softly as he approached.

The dark-haired twin turned to his daddy with tear filled eyes. He let out an indignant whine as he reached his pudgy hands out to his sister. Eren watched curiously as the two seemed to interact, cooing at one another. It was kind of cute, the way they blabbered as if they could understand one another. That was until Cayden reached for the toy in Hazel’s grasp. The girl immediately screeched and pulled away.

Eren, sensing a fight stepped in, “Hey, hey, no baby boy. You can’t take that one, Hazel’s playing with the kitty.” He picked up a little bear and offered it to his son, “How about blue bear instead?”

The boy whined and threw the bear proffered to him. Eren frowned. Cayden reached out again to take the kitten stuffie Hazel was playing with. He set his hands upon it and pulled, both twins whining at each other as they tugged the toy. Their dad intervened before it could get any farther. Eren pulled Cayden’s hands away carefully and pulled the boy to sit on his knee.

“Baby, you  _ can’t _ play with that one,” he scolded, even though he supposed the raven haired child wouldn’t understand him anyway.

Cayden’s bright eyes filled with tears and Eren sighed. There was no escaping this one; he had taken the toy and he wasn’t about to budge and make his daughter cry just because Cayden wanted that particular toy. The little boy started to cry. And then Eren had a thought…

Hadn’t it been Cayden’s turn to play with the kitten toy today? Since they both loved it they usually took turns on who would play with it, and it being Friday meant it was his son’s turn with the beloved plush. Which also likely meant that Hazel had taken the toy from her brother, and Eren being the absent minded man he was, hadn’t remembered that he in fact had given Cayden the cat this morning. 

“Hazel!” Eren called, his disappointment and anger working into his tone a little bit.

Because of her little klepto act, he had Cayden crying heavily into his arm, fat tears working down his sweet,  _ honest _ little cheeks. Eren’s daughter turned to him curiously, innocence deceptive in her big, green eyes. He gave her a disappointed glare.

“Hazel,” he said warningly, “you know it’s not your day to play with Cookie. Now give it to Cayden and let Daddy find you another toy.”

Eren reached out with one hand, taking the kitten toy from his daughter and handing it back to his son, whose tears slowly dried as he held the plush close. Now it was Hazel’s turn. Her doe eyes widened even more and she immediately began to sob, her woeful cries much louder than her twin’s. Eren sighed again. 

Why couldn’t Levi be here when shit like this happened? They always seemed to respect his authority more somehow--with him they both seemed to know that crying would get them out of any trouble. Because damn those little tear filled teal eyes made his heart rip every time. 

The shifter reached out and ruffled the little girl’s chocolatey hair, setting down the lightly sniffling Cayden. He got up from the floor, determined to finish his chores before his lover came home but was immediately halted. He frowned as he watched Hazel’s shaky hand reach out to touch the kitty plush again. Cayden pulled away from her with a grunt, which caused the girl’s sobs to intensify. She reached out again for the toy, and Cayden smacked her hand away. Eren’s eyes widened.

“Cayden! No hitting!”

The child ignored him and pushed his crying sister away again. Within a few moments, a new tousling match had broken out over the little cat toy. Eren raced back over, scooping Hazel away from her brother and snatching away the stuffed animal from the both of them. Two pairs of teal eyes snapped to him, tears imminent in both. 

“If we can’t play nice with Cookie then we won’t play with her at all!” Eren yelled as he picked up the toy and locked it away in the toy chest.

The twins looked at each other in disbelief, then broke out in tears. They didn’t often cry together actually--they both tended to get upset over completely different things--so the sudden outcry made Eren flinch.

“No, no, hey stop that, both of you!” he yelled, surging forth and pulling them both into his arms and hugging them.

“You guys just can’t fight like that, okay? Shhhh, don’t cry, p-please?”

Their combined sobs only got louder. Eren scooped them up and sat down on the couch, cradling Cayden to his left and Hazel to his right as they cried. Even their sobs were different--Cayden’s sharp and ragged, and Hazel’s high-pitched and droning. And God, both were absolutely miserable to listen to. Eren could feel his own eyes fill with tears, as he felt two pairs of chubby hands grip onto his shirt for dear life. When the hell was Levi coming home?!

“Shhhh, babies stop...it’s okay. Daddy’s sorry...why don’t we go e-eat some cereal before Papa gets home? E-everything’s okay…”

He was assuring himself more than the babies. In fact, it seemed that at the mention of their Papa the twins began to cry even harder. If that was at all possible, that is.

Eren sat on the couch, rocking his two sobbing children. They didn’t really cry this much, but he supposed that the lack of a good afternoon nap along with the kitty incident had really set them off. No matter how much he whispered sweetly to them, no matter how much he rubbed theirs backs and patted their bums, they didn’t calm. And so he sat there, rocking and whispering to his two children, as tears began to fall from his own cheeks. 

What kind of father was he? He had taken away their favorite toy and made not one, but  _ two _ of them cry. Two out of two. And on top of that, he had failed his husband. The house wasn’t clean, and there wasn’t any dinner on the table. He was a terrible awful person, who couldn’t do one simple thing and couldn’t stop his own kids from crying.

When Levi walked in through the door five minutes later, he was not expecting to find his husband and two children sobbing all in unison on the couch. His thin eyes widened and he contemplated whether he should continue in the door or just walk back out and come back, once the madness stopped. But he supposed that would make him a pretty shitty husband.

“Eren…?” he asked, walking cautiously into their home.

Three pairs of ocean blue eyes turned on him.

“L-Levi!” Eren cried, his sobs barely breaking to speak, “I-I can’t...th-they won’t stop crying!”

“God fucking dammit...what happened, brat?” the older asked softly with a grimace. He reached out and brushed a strand of chocolate hair from his lover’s eyes, wiping a few stray tears as well. Levi kissed his husband’s cheek before pulling their son into his own lap, and holding him close.

The personal attention seemed to help the twins. Their crying turned to quiet whimpering in their respective parents’ arms. Eren choked out a few more sobs, hugging his little girl as he tried to calm down. Levi watched him silently, rubbing Cayden’s back soothingly.

“I-it’s been a rough day…”

“No shit,” Levi scoffed, leaning forward and kissing Eren’s forehead.

“They wouldn’t take their nap, and then they kept fighting over Cookie…”

“That shitty little cat doll?”

Eren sniffled, “Yeah, you know it’s their favorite.”

“I know, I know.”

“And then they just...freaked because they wouldn’t play nice and I took it away, a-and! I didn’t finish making the bed, a-and I didn’t make anything for d-dinner and--!”

Levi chuckled a little and brought a hand to his husband’s face, making him look up at him.

“Eren it’s fine. Shit happens.”

Eren smiled brightly, watching as Levi lifted the boy in his arms and gave him a large kiss on both of his cheeks. The man then reached over and did the same for Hazel. Eren sniffled a little bit and then leaned forward into his husband. They embraced with each of their one free arms, and shared a chaste kiss.

“How about you lay down and watch these little shits while I finish the bed and go make dinner, hmm?” Levi suggested, bouncing their son and swiping another hair from Eren’s eyes.

Eren smiled and wiped the remnants of tears from his face, “Sounds good.”

Levi smirked and dumped both of their children back onto their blanketed space on the floor. He pulled out a couple of toys from their chest and set them to work. He then stood and gave his lover another kiss.

“Hey Eren?” the Captain called from their kitchen.

“Yeah?’’

“I think we should put kitty away for a while.”


	4. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are lovelies! The next traumatic installation! Sorry for the wait, but Ghosties and I have had a lot of trouble writing recently so hopefully we'll get our flow back soon...
> 
> And remember! We do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters belonging thusly. Except for the babies. We own those.
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> ~Aria and the Ghosts

It was the thick, permeating smell of smoke that awoke him. He coughed slightly as he breathed some in, immediately sitting up. “What the hell..?” Eren rose from the welcoming bed covers to investigate, coughing again as he inhaled more smoke. The entire hallway was hazy with the irritable fumes.

He blinked rapidly against the sting of the air. Why was it so hot? His sleep riddled mind struggled to find an answer. Eren cautiously crept down the hall, stopping near to the twins’ bedroom. 

It was then he saw the vibrant glow of dangerous flames dancing their way up the stairs. The house was on fire.

Panic flooded him and his protective instincts kicked in. He burst into the bedroom and scooped up his crying children, holding them tightly to his chest as he went back to his and Levi’s room. “Shit shit shit.” He lay his children down on the bed and haphazardly scooped up some of the prized personal effects from the bedside table, stuffing them into his pockets.

Knowing he had little time to waste, he hastily tied a bedsheet around himself and stuck one of the twins in the makeshift sling. Then he grabbed up the other, not really paying attention to which was which. So long as he had them both.

The fire had spread to the hallway by the time he emerged again. He was being backed into a corner. His breaths came in panicked gasps, more and more of the toxic air entering his lungs.

Fear laced with his blood, pumping loudly in his eardrums. What could he do!? The stairs were not an option, and there was only one way down.

Then he laid eyes on the window. In seconds his choice was made. Eren could feel the deadly heat approaching from the left as he bashed out the glass panes. He looked down below, where he would be landing, and was grateful to see two hedges. Not ideal, but better than straight ground, especially from the second floor.

The smoke was thick and deadly around them, he hoped the babies hadn't inhaled as much as he had. Eren prepared himself to shield his children from the fall, knowing very well that if he did this wrong, he could kill them.

With the heat becoming unbearable, he leapt out the window and free fell down into the bushes below. He only faintly processed the stabbing pain that erupted in his ankle when he landed, more focused on the well being of his children. His skin burned with cuts from the glass, ragged points having caught him on the way out.

Eren shot to a stand and limped away from the burning house. Ragged coughs broke free from his lungs, leaving him breathless after each hack. In his arms, the twins cried with fear. He held them close, double checking the sling quickly.

Tears tumbled down his face as he beheld the giant bonfire that had been his and Levi’s home. They hadn't even been moved in fully, much of their belongings still at the Survey Corps headquarters. But it was gone.

Eren shook himself from more thought and headed as fast as he could to the small stable that had been made for Ginger and Magnolia. His elegant mare whinnied with distress as he approached.

“E-Easy Ginger,” he rasped, patting her snout. Once more he found himself turning to the nightmare before him. He needed to get to Levi. He had to go to headquarters, where he was safer.

A sudden bout of movement caught his eye, five horses with riders were disappearing into the night. He knew they were the ones responsible; the ones who had just destroyed their home.

Eren swung himself up into Ginger’s saddle carefully and spurred her on with a nudge, trying desperately to keep the two kids in his hold from being jostled too much. A sense of hopelessness fell over him as he rode away. Behind him, the sky was lit orange and red as the house continued to burn.

* * *

 

 

Eren slowed Ginger to a halt when they reached the main entryway to Headquarters. He heaved ragged breaths as he dismounted with his twins in tow, deep coughs nearly bringing him to his knees.

“Lieutenant Jaeger!?”

He backed away from the sudden outcry, shielding his sobbing babies with his body. That was until he recognized the voice. He blinked wearily at his comrade, his tensed shoulders relaxing only minimally. “Rachel,” he wheezed.

“Oh gods,” she cried, coming closer, “what happened? Let me help you inside!”

The shifter was reluctant but followed her inside when she held open the door. He tried to shush his frightened children, but found he was unable to calm even himself. He shied away from the few soldiers that were milling about and fell to the ground, attempting to make himself smaller.

“Someone get Captain Levi!”

Eren struggled with his breath, the toxic air having inflamed his lungs. Tears continued flowing, the terrible devastation he had left behind haunting his mind. 

From the growing crowd, Levi strode forward with purpose, concern openly visible on his face, “Eren.”

He looked up and let out a weak sob. Coughs wracked his form when he tried to respond.

“Shit.. what the hell happened?” The older male wordlessly took their children from those trembling hands, rubbing their small backs. His gaze was searching him for answers, reflecting confusion and worry back as they did.

Twin tear tracks were clearly visible from the soot covering his face. He shook his head in defeat, bowing forward and crying through his terrible hacking.

“Someone get him some damn water,” Levi ordered, “and get Hanji out here!”

A couple of nearby cadets scurried off instantly.

“Breathe, shitface,” he chided softly, “get your lungs to work. What happened?”

“H-House…” He managed to say, “house is-” More coughs interrupted him.

Levi’s brows furrowed, “The house is..?”

Eren let out a cracked sob, “It's g-gone.. They b-burned-” He trailed off, unable to continue.

Silence hung heavy in the air. The worry in those silver pools shifting to disbelief and fury. “Someone burned our house down?”

He couldn't manage any words, so settled for nodding. His heart ached at the devastating loss. 

It had been the perfect place for them, their own little safe haven. It had taken three months to build and furnish and it had been simply perfect when they had first entered. It had only been a few weeks since their dream house had been finished, and already it was gone.

Someone offered him a glass of water which he took in shaky hands. His nerves were positively frayed.

Levi had gone arrantly silent with the news, a dangerous fire was flickering in his gaze. “..You need to be looked over,” he said in a surprisingly soft tone of voice, “it's obvious you've got bad smoke inhalation.”

“Them first,” Eren wheezed in response, “I w-went through a window.. p-plus smoke..”

“Fine, now calm down. I need to make sure you’re okay too.” Even as he said it, concern passed over his face.

He sat gasping for a bit, and blinked at him in a slight daze. “I-Infimary?”

“Yes,” he said firmly, “let’s go.” Levi stood swiftly, resituating their children in his arms. He felt a pang of concern for them, knowing how delicate young children could be. He could only hope that between the three of them, they would be alright from the ordeal they had just gone through.

Eren shakily got to his feet, but almost immediately fell back down with a loud cry.

Levi whipped back around, “Eren!?” He shot forward and knelt near his spouse, eyes frantically searching his form. Eventually he saw his lover’s ruined ankle and scowled. “Shit.. your ankle..”

A cadet stepped forward and helped Eren to his feet gently, offering soft pats to his back when he coughed. “I’ve got Lieutenant Jaeger, Captain,” she said surely.

He didn’t have time to scrutinize her, but rather nodded and stood, heading off towards the infirmary. Everything in him screamed to be hasty, but they couldn't push Eren, especially not with his ankle so bad.

They all began making suddenly lengthy trip to the infirmary, Levi half turning often to check on his spouse. His brow remained deeply furrowed the entire way. Eren was a mess physically and emotionally, and it showed on his dirtied face.

“Almost there, sir,” Rachel whispered to him comfortingly.

Eren gave no response but some of the tension left his shoulders.

As soon as they entered, Levi strode in and laid the twins on a cot and allowed the on staff doctors to begin looking them over. Then he helped Eren to another bed, Rachel helping him carefully maneuver him with his busted ankle. When he was settled, Levi grabbed up one of his hands and kissed the scratched knuckles.

The younger lay gasping, breath still ragged due to smoke inhalation.

“This never should’ve happened,” the raven growled under his breath, “I’m going to kill the bastard responsible.”

“B-Bastards,” Eren corrected weakly.

His gaze narrowed with the new information, “How many?”

"What the hell is going on in here?”

Levi glanced towards the doorway to find Hanji shooting over to the twins with a furrowed brow. “Later. Check them over,” he bit out. His attention returned to his spouse. “Eren, how many did you see?” Came his calm but firm question.

“F-Five.”

Seeing the genuine fear flicker in those brilliant orbs made him feel the need to kill something. He had promised to protect his brunette lover when they had married, but he had already failed to do so several times and he hated himself for it.

“Bandage that wound on the girl’s leg, we’ll need to clean it everyday until it's healed,” Hanji spoke to one of the other medical hands. “We also need to monitor their breathing just in case.”

Eren shot up on his cot with a panicked expression, “I hurt Hazel!?”

The researcher was quick to his side, “Looks like she got cut pretty good on something, but it'll heal fine Eren. Let me get a look at you.”

He visibly deflated, “I-I thought I had protected them better..”

“Eren, there’s nothing you could've done to prevent it given the circumstances,” Levi said, breaking his silence. “It's a goddamn miracle it wasn't worse.”

Hanji eyed them with a scrutinizing eye, obviously trying to deduce what misfortune had taken place. The twins were suffering from mild smoke inhalation and had some soot covering their cheeks. Eren was covered with soot and traces of ash, his haggard breathing suggested smoke inhalation as well. It was obvious to her then what must've happened.

Her gaze moved to Levi who looked to be just concealing the anger that wished to spill forth. He would no doubt be ready to leap into an investigation and manhunt as soon as Eren and their children were settled. Not that she could ever blame him.

“Alright,” she said, “in order to fully assess the damage you've taken, I need to have the soot off of you.” Hanji grabbed up some thin bandages and a splint. “I'll set your ankle real quick and give you a mild painkiller which will hopefully help with cleaning you up.”

“I can shower him,” Levi as he stood and made his way to the infirmary bathrooms.

"You sure you can support him and bathe him at the same time?”

He scoffed, “Nothing I haven't done before, Hanji.”

She nodded and set about carefully setting Eren’s ankle. It all went well, his titan healing would kick in and heal the bones by the end of the day. Though even then she knew he would have to be careful on it for at least a week.

Eren inhaled sharply when she repositioned his ankle, which was immediately followed by some harsh coughs.

“Easy,” she soothed, “try to keep your breathing even. I think I've already got it set so I can do the temporary wrap. You ready?”

He didn't reply but tossed an arm over his eyes and nodded. 

Levi reemerged from the bathroom and grabbed Eren’s hand as Hanji maneuvered the splint into place and began wrapping it. “Will you be able to stand on your other leg long enough for me to help you get clean?” he asked softly.

“Yeah..” was the muffled reply.

With his ankle set and blood laced with a light painkiller, Eren allowed himself to be led to the bathroom by his husband. Levi was careful with him the entire way, obviously not wishing to cause him undue pain.

The raven locked the door, stripped the younger down naked and helped him into the shower where he already had the water running. Before following him in, Levi stripped off his jacket and cravat, then entered the shower still clothed. He held Eren in his arms as he allowed the warm stream of water to rinse away the black soot.

Eren was practically limp in his grasp, eyes having fluttered shut in what appeared to be contentedness.

"Where does it hurt so I know not to touch there?” He asked lowly. He absently noted that it seemed the warm and humid air in the shower stall was helping his lover’s breathing.

“Besides mm’ankle? ..Head, shoulders and arms,” was the murmured reply.

Looking closer, Levi was beginning to make out some angry looking cuts that were weeping blood. He scowled and gently ran his hand over the skin there to fully rid of any remaining soot.

At one point, Levi realized Eren was trembling slightly in his hold. He furrowed his brow and peered up to the brunette’s face. The torment that was Eren’s expression, tore at him. Tears mixed with shower water and vanished all too easily.

_ He's afraid _ , he quickly pieced together.  _ He's afraid because you failed him. You didn't protect him. _

Shame swept through him as he finished rinsing the suds from those unruly locks.

_ I'm sorry, Eren. _

 

* * *

As soon as Eren had been settled in their room, bandaged and medicated, Levi had assembled a small team to help investigate the matter. He was intent and harsh with them, obviously willing to do anything and everything to catch their five culprits. Though his mind became clouded with the task at hand, and he overlooked checking in on his spouse.

Upon seeing the trend, Hanji immediately stepped in and saw to the beloved titan shifter. Between herself, Armin, Mikasa and even Jean, they looked after the kids and made sure Eren was comfortable and fed. 

The one thing they couldn't seem to do was get him to sleep. He would lay back on the bed as though to rest but wouldn't let his eyes shut. Instead he stayed awake and constantly watched over his children; even when they reassured him that they wouldn't leave and wouldn't let anyone else come in.

Hanji knew what would need to happen but she was unsure how to draw Levi away from his obsessive attention to the manhunt at hand.

By the second day, she knew something had to be done.

Her round to Eren’s room that morning had revealed that his titan healing had slowed due to utter exhaustion. He was in pain but refused medicine, she knew out of fear of succumbing to sleep. He was tired to the point of being mildly paranoid about everything. It was too much.

And so she found herself hastily making for her short companion with intent. If Levi would not break from things, she would make him.

Hanji stormed into the investigation room with a determined glint to her eyes. She immediately came up beside her shorter comrade, “Levi, you need to go to Eren.”

He moved away from the table but didn’t make any move to leave the room, “He will be okay for right now. I need to get these bastards.”

“And your poor spouse needs to sleep!”

Levi turned to her in surprise, question in his gaze. “What are you talking about?”

She glared at him, “It has been two days since the incident and Eren has refused to sleep since it happened. He needs you more than this damn investigation right now. I will take your place here, but you need to go to him.  _ Now _ .”

He still made no move to leave.

“Levi,” Hanji said, grabbing his shoulders, “you need to be the first thing he sees once he wakes up. You need to be there to ground him when he has nightmares. He won't trust anyone else right now. So you need to be there for him, for his sake..”

He hesitated for only a moment more, “Fine. Tell me of any updates.”

“You know I will, Levi. Go to him now.”

Levi didn’t even think of the route to his and Eren’s quarters, the way to his destination was already laid out in his mind. He entered the darkened room quietly, so as not to disturb his lover.

“Who’s there?” Eren’s voice was deadly and sharp, evidently prepared for the worst case scenario.

“It’s just me, brat,” he called in what he hoped to be a placating manner. His eyes adjusted to the low lighting and immediately homed in on the rigid form sitting in the bed.

Eren heaved a long breath, “Levi..”

The raspy quality of the other’s voice was concerning, the exhaustion that laid just beneath the surface easy to identify. “I’ve been told you have refused to sleep,” he stated levelly as he placed himself beside the younger male. “You’ve got to be tired Eren, you need to sleep.”

He looked away in something akin to shame, “..I can’t. Every time I try, I freak out and worry about it happening again. What if I can’t get out next time?”

Levi felt bloodlust rise up within him once more but he quelled it, instead focusing on Eren. “There won’t be a next time,” he growled, “and you’re safe here, you know that.”

“I thought I was safe there,” came the weak retort, “but they went after us there too.”

He found himself momentarily silenced, beginning to understand Eren’s train of thought. He hated the fact that he couldn’t guarantee the safety of his most prized person. He couldn’t ensure that nothing bad would ever come upon him and the mere fact taunted him like no other.

“I wasn’t there last time,” the mere admission stung more than he would ever say, “but I am now. Nobody will get past me. They won’t come after you here, not while I’m around.”

Eren sagged against him unexpectedly, “Gods…. Levi, I’m so tired..”

He gathered his lover in his arms, “Then sleep. I won’t leave until you’ve rested.” That was one of Eren’s bad habits, he would run himself ragged while looking after everyone around him, which usually lead to him crashing and burning in the aftermath.

There was quiet for a time, Levi began to believe that Eren had finally succumbed to his exhaustion, until he spoke again.

“..It was so scary. By the time I started trying to get out the fire was roaring around us. Everything was hot and burning.. It almost was like being in my titan.” Eren trembled slightly, “I didn’t think I would be able to get out.. Or that I would be able to protect the babies.. I was s-so scared Levi.”

He held Eren closer, almost as though he was attempting to hold the shifter’s broken spirit together. “I’m sorry you had suffer alone, Eren,” he murmured, “I’m sorry it happened at all.”

Eren huddled impossibly closer, small sobs escaping him.

The sound tore him apart. It was always terrible to hear his spouse cry, but these feeble and broken cries were somehow worse than anything else. Levi soothed him as best he could, until the brunette finally fell into an uneasy slumber.

His bloodlust bubbled just beneath the surface, the culprits would surely suffer by his hand.

 

* * *

Eren slept fitfully for only a couple of hours when it was interrupted by soft cries from one of the twins.

Levi had just begun to hear the noise when Eren shot from the bed and to the crib nearby. He blinked with mild bewilderment. His hovered nearby anxiously, as though he was going to scoop them into his arms at a moment’s notice. 

He visibly made himself relax and gently grabbed up Cayden, shushing him ever so softly. It didn’t take long for his cries to quiet as he fell back asleep. Eren lowered his small form back into the crib and let his shoulders drop in exhaustion.

“I could’ve gotten him..” the older male commented finally.

Eren yelped and whipped around with wide eyes, breath having picked up a bit.

Levi rose from the bed swiftly and went to him, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

He shook his head and huddled into his lover’s strong frame. “Don’t worry about it.. For a moment I was back in our house.”

He hummed in response, and tugged him back towards the bed. “Come on shithead, your ankle is still healing.”

Eren wearily followed, all but collapsing into the bed. He crawled into a more comfortable position, all adrenaline leaving him quickly.

Levi settled on the other side, sitting against the headboard and picking up his book to read by the candle he had on the bedside table. When he felt the soft thump of his lover’s head settling on his lap, he merely began threading his hand through those luscious locks; it was a well practiced habit of his and one that Eren adored.

“Sleep, love,” he murmured softly when he noticed the younger fighting to keep his eyes open. “I'm not going anywhere.”

It seemed to do the trick as Eren reluctantly allowed his eyes to shut. In minutes, his body relaxed too as he fell deep into sleep.

Levi huffed with mild amusement and kissed the brunette's brow.

If Eren needed him to be a source of comfort, then he would not hesitate to be there. Especially not after such a close call. It made his skin crawl merely thinking about how close it had been. Had his spouse been any other person, he might not have made it out of the house. The thought was equal parts comforting as discomforting. 

It never should've even happened. The idea was a recurring one. Questions of what-if, ran rampant through his mind. Yet the logical part of him knew that sometimes there was just no preventing an event from occurring. It was utter torment, yet an inescapable truth.

* * *

Again Eren slept for a few hours, this time evidently more restful than the previous. That was, until he began having a nightmare.

Levi immediately became aware when Eren withdrew into himself, curling up with hitched breathing. He tossed his book to the side table and brought the younger male to his chest, stroking his hair in a comforting manner. “Come on Eren,” he called, “wake up.”

He thrashed a bit before snapping awake, heaving in breaths and looking nothing short of bewildered. His brilliant eyes flashed up to Levi’s face and then fell shut as a sigh of relief escaped him. “A dream..”

“Yes,” Levi assured him, “nothing more.”

Eren regained his bearings and lay contentedly in his husband’s strong arms. He allowed the feeling to ground him again.

“Mmmbabba maa,” came a distinct babble.

The older male blinked in mild surprise and looked over to the crib where Hazel was staring at them with a small grin. He smirked and rose from the bed, lifting her easily into his arms. Once near the bed, he offered her out to the other. 

Eren took her without hesitation. He cradled her small form to him carefully, trying desperately to avoid hurting her gauze covered leg. “I'm sorry you got hurt, baby,” he told her remorsefully.

“Eren-”

“Mmmbaba baa mmg,” Hazel replied with a large grin.

The sight warmed his heart. At least she still had her bright attitude about her, even with an injury. “Yeah, but I still feel bad,” he said, playing along with her.

The bright eyed child shifted and then planted a huge kiss on his cheek, slobber and all. She giggled at his expression.

Eren couldn't stop a chuckle from escaping him. “You think that's funny, missy?” He smirked in a way that was harrowingly similar to Levi and began planting kisses all over her face.

Hazel shrieked but it soon gave way to excited laughter. She put her little hands out and pushed at her Daddy’s face but he kissed those too.

Levi, who had gotten Cayden out as well, stood with a small smile on his face. He was glad to see some of the light return to Eren’s eyes, even if it was temporary while he played with their child.

The situation had him feeling incredibly grateful that his spouse was resilient and adept at escaping certain danger. Maybe not unscathed, but he somehow always made it out. And to top it off, he always managed to find his will to keep going. It was a skill that few had, especially when faced with as much danger as Eren seemed to be.

Levi knew they still had a lot to do, a lot to face; but at least they had each other. Eren and Hazel would heal from their injuries, their home could be rebuilt, and the bastards responsible would be dealt with. With time, everything would work out.


	5. Fire: The Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh sorry for the lateness! Ghosties and I have been having HUGE writers block recently, but hopefully we've got things rolling now! Anyway! Enjoy this second slice of hell! Plus some babies...  
> Note: We do not own any of the characters in Attack on Titan. We just play with them. Babies? Those are our creations. Feel free to draw them or shit but let us know ;)  
> Yeah, story.  
> ENJOY  
> ~Aria and the Ghosts

 

Hanji and Levi stood in a darkened alleyway, lingering near to a shady looking bar. Levi had apparently found something out, had found Hanji and immediately drug her out with him without any real explanation behind his behavior - except that he had a location to find.. someone. It was all mysterious to say the least.

Hanji glanced behind them, observing the pathway behind them with suspicion. When she saw nothing, she turned back and sighed. "You sure this is a place your information pointed to, Levi?"

He offered her a quick glare, his gaze going back to watching the entrance of the bar with intensity thereafter. "Of course it's the fucking place," he muttered, "I wouldn't waste my time here if it wasn't."

"Alright alright, calm down. I wasn't the asshole that did this."

Levi rolled his eyes, "Not saying you were, shitty glasses. Now shut up while we wait."

She huffed in reply and crouched in an attempt to be less visible. "You know which guy we're looking for? You haven't told me shit."

"I know what he looks like, stop talking." His words were short and clipped as he spoke.

Still she was a bit uneasy with it all. "And how are hell are you planning to get him? You can't just walk up to the guy and drag him into a damn back alley. That would raise an alarm." It wasn't a lack of trust, but rather a concern for the consequences of being caught. It wouldn't do to have two high ranking officers in the Survey Corps apprehended for attacking a seemingly innocent man on the streets.

Beside her, Levi tensed and narrowed his eyes, "Watch me."

Hanji was left to watch in mild shock as he strode up to a man confidently and socked him straight in the nose, but the motion was so quick that someone not looking for the movement wouldn't have even noticed. He then proceeded to hook his arm around the man's shoulder and walk him back to their side alley like he was nothing more than a drunk friend.

He tossed her a sly smirk, "Let's go."

She gave him an exasperated sigh as she took up the unconscious man's other side. "Damn you, shorty."

They began lugging him towards the outskirts of the city, to the uninhabited back alley they had scouted out before going to the bar. Needless to say, it was no easy task. Once they had reached the chosen location, the unceremoniously dropped the still unconscious man to the ground in a heap.

The brunette stood back and raised a brow towards her companion. "Okay, now what? Did you bring anything to bind him?"

Levi didn't reply directly, instead he crouched and brought a bundle a rope out from his jacket and began tying the man up.

She groaned in annoyance, "You're impossible." With crossed arms, she leant back against the wall and watched the entrance closest to them for any sign of people. "Why even bring me if you have everything handled?"

"In case more show up," he replied, as though it were plainly obvious. He propped his prisoner up against the wall with a look of mild disgust.

She shot him a look. "Did you even tell Eren you were leaving? You dragged me out in such a hurry that I have to wonder."

He stood and shrugged. "I did tell him, but he was still half asleep so who knows what he heard."

"At least he's sleeping," Hanji commented, "I was getting worried about him."

Levi grunted in agreement, "You're telling me.."

"Oh, I keep forgetting to tell you… Erwin wants to accompany you out to the house to see the damage. We can nail these bastards in court if it's bad."

An iciness entered the raven's gaze at the mere mention of the house. "It's probably all gone, Hanji, you know that just as well as I."

"Yeah… I know."

He nudged the man with his foot none too gently in annoyance, he wanted to get this ordeal over with so they could move forward in the investigation. He didn't have time to wait for dumb pawns to wake up from unconsciousness. "Do you think it'll be far enough away from everything else if he starts screaming? I don't really want it to come to that, but if he doesn't give, I will do what is necessary."

Hanji shrugged, "Don't know and really don't care. Worst case scenario, we have to deal with Nile and his shithead brigade. And if it got back to Zackly, he'd be on our side." She tossed back a look to the stranger, "And who knows, he might cave easily."

"Tch, hopefully. I don't have time for shitstains like him."

They both were made alert when the man began showing signs of waking. Hanji stiffened and made sure most of her attention was at the entrance of the alleyway.

The man flinched and stared at them in surprise, "W-What? Who are you?!"

"Funny," Levi sneered, "I was just about to ask you that." He knelt and got on face level with his prey, "Who do you work for?"

He went pale, "What are you talking about?"

Hanji sighed, "Oh here we go…"

Levi grabbed his chin and punched him square in the jaw. "I don't feel like playing nice today," he said as the man spluttered. "So I'll ask again, and you're going to answer like a good dog. _Who hired you_?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I could have you arrested for this!"

The raven haired man chuckled darkly, "Oh you could, could you? How quaint of you to think so." He didn't hesitate in punching him again.

His prisoner groaned in pain and spit out some blood in his general direction. "I h-have connections. They would take you out easily."

From her position, Hanji snorted, "He's rather amusing to me, Levi."

The man's gaze flickered to him, eyes narrowed.

Levi scoffed, "I have connections too, and yet here I am with scum like you. But then, this is a bit personal, don't you think?" He slammed his palm into the wall right beside the man's head, "Now answer my damn question before I lose my patience."

He growled in return, "You're that damn Captain, aren't you?! They were supposed to kill your despicable 'family' in the fire!"

Those silver eyes flashed with dark fire as he grabbed the other's throat in a crushing hold. He only felt mildly satisfied when the man began clawing at his hands with widened eyes.

"Yes, I am Captain Levi," was his dangerous murmur, "and now that you know my name, I would say it's only polite to answer my question before I rip your throat out."

Hanji rolled her eyes, "Can't get your answers if he's dead, shorty."

He waited a moment more before releasing his hold on the man's throat. Levi paused while he caught his breath and coughed.

"I w-won't tell you anything..!" He wheezed. "Everything about you is sacrilege, _Captain_. That accused titan shifter should've burned like like the animal _it_ is!"

Hanji shook her head, "Sure. Keep digging your grave buddy."

Levi had to restrain himself from outright murdering the pest before him. Instead he held his hand out towards his comrade, "Give me your pliers."

She gaped at him, "How did you know I have a pair?" The look he gave her sent a chill down her spine, so the researcher was quick to hand them over.

The man eyed them but continued on his rant. "Your offspring are hellspawn and should be put to death! I would happily see to the end of that titan you've lain with, with my own hands! DEATH! YOU ALL DESERVE DEATH!"

Levi grabbed his nose and held it shut, thus forcing him to breathe through his mouth. He peered in the man's mouth with a hum of thought. "Let's see.. Which tooth first, Hanji?"

Hanji looked over towards him with a shrug, "If you're going for pain factor - the bigger the tooth, the more pain. Canines would be a close second to the molars however, as they are used pretty commonly."

Their capture fought in the Captain's hold, eyes wide and frightened as she discussed the matter as easily as one might the weather.

"Molar it is," he said as he shoved the plier into the man's mouth and grasped onto one of his back molars. He pulled on it slightly to test the hold he had on the tooth. He ignored the increased struggle and growing pressure on his hand as the man tried to bite his appendage, and yanked the tooth forcefully from its socket. The resounding scream was nigh music to his ears.

He raised an unsympathetic brow, "One more for every unanswered question."

"Y-You're a monster," the man managed to splutter out.

Their female company shook her head and returned to full guard duty, "Damn hypocrite."

There was absolutely no remorse as Levi laid a smack on the man's cheek, "And you're a dog."

His response was to spit more blood out at him. "You can do what you want to me, they'll come and finish what they began."

Levi tested the pliers and moved forward, "Oh dear, I'm _so_ scared."

The man flinched away and glared up at him, "If not you, they'll get that damned shifter. Hans will be sure to see it through."

"Ahh and we have a name now," he smirked. "Who is Hans? Your filthy pack leader?"

"He is a voice of reason amidst so much.. Blasphemy."

Levi cocked his head in feigned curiosity, "Blasphemy huh? What part exactly are you referring to? The fact that Eren can transform into a titan or the fact that I go home and lay with a man every night?"

The man's face reflected his disgust, "It's all blasphemous. That damn titan isn't even human. Only the goddesses know why Zackly kept that creature alive."

"Goddesses? So you're a wall cultist? Or are you an obscure branch of the Military Police? Or maybe you're part of one of those other groups of self righteous dumb fucks."

"We are ourselves!" Their prey half shouted. "We are a wave of change! Change that will overcome the horrors of these walls and rid of all the blasphemous scum within. Hans shall see it done! He has done nothing but good for humanity."

Hanji peered around nervously, "Levi, he's getting too loud.."

"I noticed," he snapped. "Where can I find this bastard?"

"He is everywhere, his eyes and ears know everything. There are no secrets from Hans. Hans is the future - he shall bring change to these walls."

Levi glowered at the man as he continued spouting religious nonsense. "You keep this up, and I _will_ kill you," he hissed in warning. "Just tell me what I want to know and you might live."

The brunette ran her hand through her hair as the man laughed in a halfway manic sound. "You may be wasting your time at this point, Levi."

"My death has already been foretold. I shall die for the glory of these walls and the betterment of these blasphemous times."

His patience waning quickly, Levi wrenched the man's jaw open and yanked out another tooth.

"AHH!" His prey screeched.

"Where is Hans?!"

"FOR THE WALLS AND FOR YOU, MY MASTER," came the man's cry, "I SHALL PROTECT YOU. I WILL SAY NOTHING TO THESE ANIMALS THAT TORMENT ME SO!"

Hanji took matters into her own hands and landed a quick jab to the side of the man's neck, successfully knocking him out. "He was making too much noise, we've no doubt drawn attention to ourselves."

Levi growled low in his throat but nodded and stood. "At least I have a name. I can interrogate someone more sane than this bastard to find a location."

"Are we leaving him here or taking him to headquarters?"

"Leaving him, he's no more use to us," her comrade sighed in reply.

She nodded and looked over their unwilling informant with a scrutinous eye. Her gaze immediately landed on a defining emblem necklace. Her researcher side immediately dubbed it some kind of clue and thus important, so she pulled it from his neck and showed it to Levi quickly. "I don't know what this is for, but something is telling me that it'll come in handy."

The raven merely nodded. His admittedly brilliant compatriot had never been wrong on one of her hunches before, so he trusted her to come through for him again. "Let's get out of here before anyone shows up, I'd rather not have to deal with anymore disgusting people."

Hanji chuckled and started off, "Let's hope we got what we needed."

* * *

The emblem, as it turned out was indeed a huge clue. With the crown of the Goddess Rose, a river, and a hawk - it told them that these men were within Wall Rose, along the main river and in one of the smaller towns whose symbol was that of a hawk. A few street interrogations later gave him an exact location. Hans was not necessarily a name but rather a double entendre of sorts - a code for those who knew what it meant. Hans was a street name for a local meeting house, known only to a few by such a name. Though it was also acronym; Harris, Anderson, Ninge, Sciotto and Shamis. Five culprits, and five names.

Erwin had tried to insist on gathering a small team to apprehend their culprits, but Levi had immediately refused. A team would be noticed, whereas a few people would most likely be able to get in unnoticed. So upon realizing that Erwin wouldn't let him go alone, he elected to bring Hanji and Moblit.

Their plan was simple; enter town with an empty supply cart, find their culprits one at a time, apprehend them and put them in the cart under a tarp, then smuggle them out of the city under the guise of supplies. Moblit would be at the cart making sure none of them got away or were discovered. Hanji and Levi would do the collecting.

Entering town was ridiculously easy, they drew no attention to themselves and the townspeople seemed remarkably dull to any trouble. Moblit halted the cart on an edge street with a direct shot to the main road that would get them back to headquarters.

As the last hints of the sunset fell away, Hanji and Levi began their infiltration.

Hanji leapt off their cart and grinned up at her assistant, "Alright, you know the plan. Hopefully this won't take too long."

He nodded and looked to her imploringly, "Be careful."

Her lips quirked into a smirk in response, "When am I not?"

"Hanji!" Levi hissed, "Let's go, we don't have all night."

She rolled her eyes, "Coming, coming."

They ducked down a nearby alley and halted at the other end, observing the quieting street.

"So who's our first target and where do we find him?"

Levi's gunmetal silver eyes practically gleamed in the low lighting, making him appear even more dangerous. "Sciotto. Not sure where, but that's easy enough to find out."

His companion raised a brow, "It is?"

He gave her a look and stepped in front of a townsperson that walked by the alley they had staked out. "I need you to come with me," he said gruffly.

Hanji wanted to facepalm herself for thinking that Levi would do anything else besides interrogate the answers out of someone.

The thug, if he even was one, looked down at him in suspicion. "Why?"

Levi glared and dragged him into the alley, pinning him against the wall. "Tell me where to find a man named Sciotto."

His captive huffed, "Why the hell should I tell you anything?"

"Because I'm short on time and if I don't get the answer I need, I will make you disappear."

The brunette snorted with laughter and quickly turned away, shoulders trembling with amusement. The image of Levi's slight frame manhandling someone twice his size and actually managing to intimidate them would never fail to make her laugh.

He sent her a scowl but quickly turned back to the man in his grasp. "You roam the streets," he pointed out, "so that means you know everyone around here and what their habits are. Now give me a location before I punch your teeth out."

The man eyed him for a moment before sighing, "Sciotto hangs out near here, doesn't like being easily accessible. Usually I see him around Pike Lane - two streets down."

Levi shared a quick look with Hanji and released his new informant with a nod. Then they made off without a sound.

"So the plan here is...?"

Levi ignored her.

Hanji grabbed his arm, "Not this again. Give me a plan before we charge in there and get our asses handed to us."

He glared at her, "These bastards won't get the upper hand."

"They're not going to be unprepared, Levi," she hissed, "our first interrogation would not have gone unnoticed. They'll know someone is after them."

"Corner him and knock him out, take down anyone who tries to get in the way," he said finally. "They may be prepared but I doubt they'll be expecting us so soon after our first strike."

She ran a hand through her hair absently, "Alright fine. Don't blame me if things get hairy."

They continued forward silently, until Hanji grabbed Levi's arm and pulled him back before he could step forward into the opening of Pike Lane.

"Is that him?" She whispered before he could protest.

He followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes. Dark hair, tan skin and large shoulders, wearing clothes that looked too high class for him. "That's him," he growled.

Hanji rolled her shoulders and started quietly down the narrow lane, trying to stick to the shadows. She didn't have to look to know Levi was right behind her.

Their target was faced away from them and seemed to be unravelling something, though she had no idea what. A hasty look around let her know that Sciotto was alone, at least for now. She crept forward steadily and was nearly on him, but misstepped and kicked a bottle on the ground. It clattered forward loudly and thus shattered their stealth.

" _Shit_."

Sciotto whipped around and wasted no time in socking her in the face.

Pain erupted from the hit and dropped her to the ground, her glasses falling off nearby upon impact.

Levi acted quickly and kicked the man in the groin. It was a low blow, but he didn't have time to fight cleanly. They needed to get him unconscious before too loud of a raucous could be caused.

Sciotto crumpled to a knee, but swung his other leg out in an attempt to trip Levi up. It didn't work.

Having anticipated such a move, Levi jumped over it and made to land a solid kick against the man's head, but he too was thwarted.

With a grunt, Sciotto ducked under the hit and got back on his feet. Instantly, he began swinging out punches.

The man wasn't shabby at street fighting it seemed; but Levi was better. He blocked all the hits and landed a punch when he found an opening. Seeing his target falter, he lunged and hit him back to his knees. Then he landed a roundhouse kick to his face and successfully knocked him into unconsciousness.

Levi didn't drop his guard until the man crumpled to the ground.

Hanji sat up and laughed lightly. "You're kind of an entertaining fighter to watch, shorty."

The raven Captain gave her a look of distaste and threw her fallen spectacles to her. "Oh shut the fuck up," he muttered.

She slipped them on with practiced ease and got up easily. "Man… first one and I get a black eye. I think you can take the lead on the next excursion."

He scoffed in her direction. "Just help me tie him up."

Hanji gave a maniacal grin, "Oooh, that I can definitely do."

Levi merely rolled his eyes.

They lugged the man back to their cart where Moblit helped them load him up. Once he was positioned under the tarp, they snapped the tail gate of the cart back up.

"I will pay that man handsomely if he somehow manages to get out of my knots," Hanji declared proudly.

Moblit quirked a small smile in response, shaking his head slightly.

Hanji looked to Levi, "One down.."

He smirked back at her, "Four to go."

* * *

Levi and Hanji watched their prisoners like hawks. Neither of them were anticipating much trouble from them anymore, given the beating each of them had been given to knock them out, but they weren't taking any chances.

It had been decided that they would keep the group of five on base until their trial as they didn't have any degree of faith in the military police. Neither of the senior officers were exactly comfortable with the idea but yet they couldn't stand if the bastards got free due to connections.

And so they were to be marched in base and straight to the dungeon for safe keeping. Though something they hadn't accounted for was the possibility of Eren finding out.

Upon entering headquarters they were met by a dangerous looking brunette, who seemed to be seeking something out in their group of prisoners.

"Eren.." Levi tried, in an effort to keep the obvious rage that he was struggling with at bay.

Those brilliant eyes narrowed on one of the men and suddenly the man was being shoved against a wall.

He struggled in the brunette's hold but the color had drained from his face.

"I don't care that you went after me," Eren growled, "but I do care that you went after my kids and my husband!" His control relinquished fully as he socked the man in the face repeatedly.

Hanji and Moblit kept the other four back. The former chancing a look to her comrade, "You going to stop him?"

Levi watched the man slowly be beaten up with morbid satisfaction. "No. Are you?"

She shook her head. "We'll just come back for that one, Moblit and I will take these ones down."

He nodded absently. He had been with Eren long enough to read that he wasn't going to kill the man, but was just releasing some frustration and anger on him. Levi knew that the younger needed this, if for nothing else than to feel some semblance of control again.

Splats of blood began appearing on the stone floor, the man's breathing was becoming increasingly ragged. In a twisted sense, Levi felt proud of his brunette for inflicting such damage.

"What is going on here?" An all too familiar voice boomed.

Eren didn't even flinch as he grabbed his prey by the front of his shirt and landed one last deadly punch that successfully knocked him out.

"Nothing, Commander," he replied dutifully, stepping away with a look of disgust. "I think parts of his face are broken, because my knuckles are," Eren said as he walked down the hall and out of sight.

Erwin scowled at the unconscious and bloody mess on the ground and glared over at Levi. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Levi shrugged nonchalantly. "That's like asking why I didn't stop a charging bull, Erwin."

"Zackly won't be pleased with this."

"We've delivered damaged scum before," he pointed out, "besides, it's not like the bastard is going to die. He'll just be in pain for quite awhile."

"Damn, Eren did a number on him, huh?" Hanji called with a proud smirk. "The other four are settled in their cages, I just came back for this one. Apparently I need some gauze too."

Erwin heaved a ragged sigh in response, "Just get this cleaned up and him taken care of. No more of this or I'll be suspending all of you for two weeks."

The eccentric brunette laughed and began dragging the unconscious body behind her, "Uh huh, I believe every word of that."

Levi merely rolled his eyes and made after his spouse. He knew the other hated giving into his anger and always sulked afterwards. With this knowledge, he headed to their suite at the back of headquarters.

As he had imagined, he found Eren sitting quietly in bed with their children in his arms. A closer look revealed half hearted wrappings around his right hand over his busted knuckles.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Eren glanced up at him before giving a stiff nod. "Fine, just…"

"Frustrated that you gave into rage and beat an immobile man," Levi finished. "Don't be, it happens to everyone and it's not like you killed him."

"I'm not like you," his lover shot back tiredly, "I don't get over this so easily."

The short Captain sat beside him on the bed and took their daughter from him. "No, you're not like me. Not that I would want you to be. But my sentiment remains the same. Don't let this eat away at you. We've caught them, and soon they'll be appropriately sentenced."

"Yeah…"

Hazel blinked sleepily up at her papa, those large eyes hooded with exhaustion.

Levi quirked a brow, "Have they not napped today?"

Eren shook his head as he positioned Cayden to lay against his chest, over his heart. "Armin couldn't get them to sleep either I guess, he said they were fussy while I was gone."

"These damn kids are too attached to us holding them until they fall asleep." He shot a look to Eren, "I told you that would happen."

The younger managed a small smile, "I can't help it. They're so precious. I want to hold them all the time."

It was always interesting to see how suddenly Eren's mood could shift when in the presence of their children. It was almost like a switch being flipped, and almost all traces of his previous mood would be gone.

Levi eyed him critically. "They won't learn to walk until they're three that way, dumbass."

"You're honestly going to look me dead in the eye and say you could resist their darling pleas to be held?" Eren challenged.

Levi scoffed, "Of course, I won't pander to their incessant needs for attention. You give them too much."

As they sat speaking, Cayden's eyes fluttered shut and his body fell limp as sleep overtook him.

Eren smiled softly and rubbed the boy's back gently. "That's my boy. Sleep well my darling." He glanced to their daughter and chuckled, "It won't be long until she follows him."

Hazel's eyes were drooping, she was desperately trying to stay awake.

Levi looked too and sighed. "It's alright Hazel," he murmured, "go to sleep, baby girl."

His words seemed to do the trick as she too fell asleep.

Eren breathed in happily, always feeling privileged to bear witness to Levi's soft side. He carefully maneuvered himself into a reclining position on the bed, making sure his booted feet were hanging off.

"What are you doing?"

"Napping with them," he said, "my energy is gone. Probably in part due to my titan healing fixing my hand." Though there was no visible steam, he could still feel the heat pulsing through his wrecked appendage - a tell tale sign of it fixing itself.

Levi raised a brow, "Is it going to heal correctly?"

His lover yawned, "Not sure, guess we'll see in a couple hours."

"Eren…"

"If it doesn't, I'll go see Hanji," he said in a placating manner.

His senior shook his head, but scooted back to rest against the headboard with Hazel resting against him. "Don't cry to me later if she has to re-break it."

Eren nodded with a sleepy mutter in reply.

"Idiot."

* * *

When Levi finally got word that an appropriate sentencing had been dealt out to the five bastard shitsquad, he couldn't help the feeling of relief and satisfaction that hit him. His husband and children were out of danger for the time being, things could finally go back to a sense of normal. He knew it probably wouldn't be the last time they were targeted, but he hoped it would be awhile before there came more.

Immediately following his receival of the news, he began seeking out his spouse to tell him of it. Eren had been anxious and distant since the attack and Levi could only hope that the good news would allow him to relax some. After checking all the places the other male should've been, he headed to his office as a last resort.

Eren was pacing back and forth almost feverishly in front of his desk, those brilliant eyes clouded over with thought and something else that he couldn't readily identify.

Levi shut the door with an audible noise and stepped further into the room. "Eren, what's wrong?"

He startled from his motions and looked at him. "N-Nothing," he said in an unconvincing manner. "Any word?"

The raven smirked in response, "They're to be incarcerated for life, as they not only went after a Survey Corps Captain and Lieutenant and their children, but also destroyed property via arson. We'll never have to see any of them again." He looked closely at the other, "Is that good enough for you?"

Eren shrugged, "I guess? I'm just… I don't know."

His smirk quickly vanished as he recognized that something was amiss. "There's something wrong, isn't there?"

The titan shifter sighed and sat on the edge of his desk.

"Talk to me, Eren."

Eren's face screwed up with anguish, "I… Levi, this is all my fault. They…. They did this because of _me_ \- because of what I am. They would've killed our children because of me." He raised his shaky hands to his face, "I-It's all because of me."

Levi instantly drew closer and clasped his hands over the younger's shoulders and brought him in for a tight embrace. "This is _not_ your happened because some bastards decided to ruin someone else's life for their own selfish reasons. It's disgusting, but has nothing to do with me, you, the kids, or anyone else." He stroked those unruly locks fondly, "But we came out on top, we beat them and won. Our kids are happy and safe, and _that_ is thanks to _you_."

The other's slighter frame trembled in his grip.

"They'll just keep coming.. They won't stop until I'm either in their grasp or dead…" Eren despaired. "I'm putting everyone in constant danger because I'm a titan.." He shook his head and huddled in closer, "I hate m-myself for that."

Levi wrenched him away to arm's length and tilted his chin to make eye contact, "This is not your fault, and it never has been. You never asked for this, you never volunteered yourself; this decision was forced upon you and you've had to deal with the repercussions of it ever since." His grip softened some, "But Eren, you have repeatedly proven yourself to be a good person. You've fought the ignorance surrounding your abilities since you first discovered them. You're one of the strongest people I know because you never let things get to you, at least not for long. Don't let them bring you to your knees now."

His lover averted his eyes at that.

"I will personally see that every single one of these shitfucks is locked away where they can't hurt you or our family ever again. It may not be tomorrow, or next week, or even this year; but I will see it through. Even if that means fighting this to the end of my days, I will do it." In an uncharacteristic bout of tenderness, he stroked Eren's cheek and gazed into his magnificent eyes with a loving gaze. "But I want you by my side for it all."

Eren's own eyes teared up, "I'm not going anywhere.. I just…" He sighed and placed his hand over the cool one on his cheek. "I'm so scared, Levi. We can fight and defend ourselves, but Hazel and Cayden are defenseless. We can't always be there for them and these people know that. This group knew exactly when to target us. And who's to say they won't try again?"

"Eren-"

He shook his head and stepped away, hands gripping at his hair in obvious distress. "...There weren't just five of them in this group."

Levi's eyes narrowed dangerously, " _What?_ "

The younger turned back to him with tear filled eyes. "T-There were six….. One of them was camouflaged in the dark.. I almost didn't know they were there."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Came the scathing question, though it was obviously toned down as Levi fought to stay calm.

Anger flared in the pit of his stomach, "Because I didn't realize it!"

Those sharp silver eyes glared at him with a demand for answers.

"I've had nightmares of the fire since the night it happened," Eren breathed, shoulders sagging. "Every night I see the same thing over and over, on an endless repeat that I can't get rid of. And I finally realized there was another apart from the group of five - the true leader, I think."

A stab of remorse struck Levi as this new information came to light, "Eren… I didn't know."

"Of course," he laughed sourly, "it's not like you've been around a lot lately to notice." Eren didn't raise his eyes, "But seeing the same torment so much certainly cleared up the details. Sorry I didn't reimagine it vividly enough to tell you before.."

"No," Levi said, "I'm sorry that you've had to deal with this alone."

The brunette peered up at him with tear stained cheeks, his utter exhaustion and emotional strain from the last few days on full display.

How had he missed it? Levi berated himself for not paying closer attention to his lover, the investigation could've waited until he was sure Eren was alright to cope with everything that had happened.

"Being in that fire.. It was awful and never should've happened," Levi said in a murmur. "And having to remember all the details from such a traumatic experience over and over, it's dreadful. It's cruel of me to demand such information from you, especially knowing how it affected you."

Eren's only response was weak and pitiful sobs as he sagged into his offered embrace.

"We captured five of them, getting one more will be easier than slaying a three meter class," Levi assured him with a kiss to the side of his head.

 _I hope you're right_ , Eren thought helplessly.


	6. Brats Turn One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! How about some baby fluff for all your suffering? Yayyyyy! Fluff!  
> Enjoy~  
> Aria and the Ghosts

Eren carefully lifted Hazel's little feet and slid on her white, ruffled socks, tickling her feet and making the girl coo and giggle. Today was her and Cayden's first birthday, a day to celebrate, and so Eren had decided that they needed to be dressed up extra special for the event.

Hazel was dressed in a bright pink dress, flowing with ruffles that she was enjoying fluffing and playing with, as well as pristine white tights. With her matching ruffledsocks and pink bow keeping the hair away from her eyes, she looked like a perfect little present. Eren smiled grandly as he finished pulling up her socks, kissing the girl's head proudly. She was growing up beautifully already-she was sure to break a lot of hearts one day.

Levi, meanwhile, was dressing Cayden in an equally bright outfit. He wore a royal blue collared shirt, with a large horizontal white stripe in the center. The blue made his teal eyes pop brilliantly. He had a pair of black cloth pants on, and his feet were covered in socks that were patterned to look like little loafer shoes. Levi stood with Cayden, having finished quicker due to the boy being much less wriggly than his sister. He tapped his foot impatiently as Eren slung Hazel into his arms.

"Ready?" the raven haired man asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

Eren rolled his eyes, "Yeah. And would've been done quicker if _someone_ didn't have something against getting dressed." He rubbed his nose into the girl's chocolate locks, making her coo in complaint. He stopped her hands when she reached up to rip the bow out of her hair.

"Hmmn. I wonder where she gets her stubbornness from," Levi grumbled, walking to the door of their room and opening the door skillfully with one hand.

The younger merely stuck his tongue out at his husband and bounced with his daughter out the door. Levi smirked and followed suite, playing mindlessly with one of Cayden's hands as they reached out to him.

"Uhbhgoo?" the boy cooed, seemingly asking his Papa a question.

Levi scoffed at the little boy's curiosity, kissing his head and narrowing his eyes.

"What Cayden?" he asked mildly.

The child's eyes widened, as if he didn't expect Levi to respond to his babbled words, and grinned like a madman. He grabbed his Papa's face in his pudgy hands and leaned in to give the man a sloppy kiss to his cheek. Eren couldn't help but laugh at the face Levi made-face scrunched in terribly disguised disgust as he wiped the gooey saliva from his cheek. Cayden just smiled shyly, gripping back onto Levi's shirt and giggling along with his Daddy. Hazel joined too, and suddenly all of the brats were cackling at Levi's disdain.

"I hate all of you," Levi grumbled angrily.

Eren just laughed a bit more, especially when he noticed a rare pink tint to his husband's face. They continued on their way down, soon making it to the mess hall where a very familiar setup was in place. Colored streamers hung on the walls, foods sat on the tables, and in the middle of it all sat two large high chairs where the babies would sit and be the center of attention. Around the tables their comrades had already gathered-Armin, Mikasa and Jean sat together and chatted, Sasha and Connie were trying to refrain from eating all of the food (and failing) and Hanji was talking Erwin's arm off in the corner. The couple entered, the room quieting down a bit as they awaited some kind of greeting or announcement. It was Hazel, unsurprisingly to her parents, that decided to break the silence.

"Hahhhbb bahhhh!" she cried gleefully, wiggling in Eren's arms.

Everyone laughed and cooed back at the girl in various ways, making her gleam in happiness at the attention. Eren shook his head, smiling at his baby girl and sending a wayward glance toward his lover. Levi scoffed and rolled his eyes, although Eren could see the almost imperceptible smile on his face.

"As Hazel said…" Eren began, bouncing the girl lightly, "Happy Birthday!"

"Hahhhb bahhh!" she cried again, cheering with the rest of the Corps as they sounded off.

Cayden giggled, trying to reach for his sister so that they could play and babble all they wanted.

"Hafaaabahhh!" he called to her, the little girl's head swishing until her brother was in her line of sight.

She grinned at him, reaching against Eren's restraint to grab at her brother. The two whined and grunted as they tried to wriggle out of their parents' arms.

Levi scoffed as Cayden tried to peel his hands away from him in order to get down.

"Should we put them down?" he asked Eren.

"Uhh, yeah...I can't hold onto this one much longer anyway," the brunette answered with a laugh.

Hazel was writhing and bouncing in his arms as she tried to escape her Daddy's grasp. Eren managed to keep her at bay long enough to plop her into her high chair next to her brother, who had stopped struggling the minute he saw the chairs. Once they were next to each other, they grabbed at one another, Cayden's chubby fingers clutching at Hazel's dress and Hazel's going to poke Cayden's face. They babbled at each other, as if they were conversing, poking at one another until their hands finally found each other. Hazel cooed happily as she grasped at her brother's hand and Cayden sounded off in agreement, gripping onto his sister's wrist. Eren smiled as he saw them holding hands _again_ -they already seemed to have a very close relationship, something he was glad for.

Eren sat down with a huff next to his husband, grabbing an apple from the table and sinking his teeth into it. One amazing thing he'd found out by having children, is how amazing food could taste when you actually had the ability to sit for five minutes and eat it. He offered Levi a sticky smile as he gorged himself. The older just scoffed and began piling up a plate of fruits and soft cheeses for the babies to munch on.

"Haven't been eating much?" Armin asked with a chuckle as he watched Eren stuff himself.

The brunette nodded, "Kinda hard to when you're busy playing with, cleaning, and making food for two little humans most of the day."

Mikasa eyed him warily, assessing his health, and obviously deciding whether or not her intervention was needed in making sure her brother was properly fed.

"I'll make you food, Eren," she said definitively.

Eren rolled his eyes a bit, smacking his sister's arm in mock annoyance.

"It's _fine_ , Mikasa. I promise I'm still eating-Levi makes sure of it. Plus on really bad days I just make sure to eat when they go down for their nap."

She still seemed unsure but she nodded, smiling a bit as she looked back across the table to her niece and nephew. Eren followed her glance, taking in the scene before them. Levi had set down the plate of food, and without hesitation they were digging in. Hazel already had multiple pieces of cheese and fruit all over her high chair table, stuffing another piece in her mouth almost as soon as she'd finished chewing the other. Her brother was being a bit more finicky-obviously interested in eating but not so much the mess that came with it. He seemed very content when Sasha and Connie came up and started feeding him pieces of fruit, babbling to him like idiots and making noises like trotting horses as they brought the food up to his mouth.

Levi came back and plopped himself in his seat-after all, with this much help around for the babies he'd might as well take a break for himself. He threw his arm around Eren's waist, giving him a quick kiss to his cheek as he grabbed a couple foods to eat.

"You guys make cute babies," Hanji cooed, pinching Hazel's cheek and making the girl whine.

Levi scowled at her.

Eren merely laughed, shoving another piece of food in his mouth and watching as his squad was slowly drawn in by his children. By now, Christa and Ymir had made their way up, the freckled girl saying something about getting married and having babies of their own as the blonde petted Hazel's hair. Even Jean had gone up to see the babies, seemingly entertaining himself by bringing a piece of food close to Cayden's mouth before pulling it back and making the boy whine.

"Horseface can you stop messing with my kid?" Eren groaned, giving his rival an angry scowl.

"What?" Jean argued, "I'm just playing with him a little it's nothin-"

It was at that point that Cayden had had enough, and grabbed Jean's two-toned hair in his little fist and tugged with all his might. Horse face cursed and yelled, prying Cayden's hand away carefully and dropping the piece of food into his hand. The raven haired twin gave the man a big-lipped scowl-harrowingly similar to his Papa's, aside from the rosy cheeks and big jewel eyes. He babbled at him angrily before stuffing the food into his mouth.

"That's my boy," Levi remarked snidely as Jean began to feed the child as an apology.

They spent a little more time eating and chatting, people switching around in order to play with babies as well as talk to their comrades. Eren and Levi opened up a couple of presents-all of which were practical and small, as they'd asked for. A few extra bottles, or cloths for diapers as they never seemed to have enough of those damn things. Soon enough, it was time for the main event.

Along with a few simple desserts for the adults, the two fathers had prepared two small cakes for the occasion. One for each twin to eat, all on their own. They were small, almost the size of cupcakes, and frosted with chocolate icing in the shape of their initials. Levi brought forth the cake emblazoned with an 'H' and sat it in front of his daughter as Eren did the same, setting a cake with a 'C' in front of their son. The two cooed excitedly, looking up at their dads and at each other with curiosity. This was the first cake they would ever eat, since it wasn't a common thing for most to have in their time.

Hazel-being the brash one of the two-dug in first. She completely bypassed the fork Levi had laid down (in a useless hope that they would use it instead of their messy hands to eat) and poked the cake with a finger. It came back covered in icing which seemed to baffle her. She raised her hand up in the air and let out a little screech, showing Eren her chocolate covered hand.

"Ooohh what is that, baby girl?" he asked her knowingly.

She cooed back at him with an excited wiggle, shoving her fingers in her mouth and tasting her treat. Her teal eyes widened and she let out another happy screech at the taste. Eren laughed a bit at her excitement, smiling at Levi's cringing when Hazel grabbed a handful of cake with her bare hand.

While his sister began munching enthusiastically on her cake, Cayden was trying hard to pick up his fork. His little fingers didn't seem to want to cooperate with him, but he wouldn't give up. He picked up the utensil over and over again, brow furrowed as he tried to concentrate on getting it properly in his hand. He tried a few more times before getting frustrated. He let out an upset cry which Eren fixed by carefully setting the utensil into the boy's open palm. Cayden's cries stopped and he swung the object a bit as he tried to understand what to do with it. He wasn't able to actually pull a clean bite of cake away, but he did succeed in smashing the cake and getting some crumbs and icing to stick to the fork. He brought the plastic prongs messily to his lips and sucked off the contents with a happy hum.

Eren laughed at both of his children's eccentrics, ruffling their hair as they proceeded to try and eat the cake.

"Is it good babies?" he asked them with a coo.

Cayden let out a humming babble, a stream of nonsense coming from him as he tried to explain to his Daddy exactly how good it was. Hazel shrieked happily, bits of chocolate flying from her mouth as she did. Levi frowned at her, leaning in with a napkin and wiping her chocolate covered lips. She whined in protest but went right back to her happy munching when he pulled back.

"How can you handle such a messy child, Levi?" Hanji teased him, pointing to the chocolate that had somehow snaked it's way up and down the girl's form.

" _That_ is _not_ my child," he deadpanned, a sneer taking his features.

Eren elbowed him with a warning frown.

The older sighed, wrapping his arm around Eren in pentanance.

"Or at least she doesn't get that from _me_ ," he grumbled.

The twins just merely continued chewing on their cake noisily. Cayden had finally given up on the fork, instead carefully picking up chunks of cake and sucking his fingers clean before going for another. Hazel's cake meanwhile was demolished. Crumbs were the only survivor, and even now she was hunting for those and stuffing them in her mouth. Soon, both of their cakes were gone.

"Alright. It's bath time," Levi commanded, walking forth toward Hazel with a washcloth, intending on cleaning at least her hands before he took her to get washed.

The girl grinned widely as her Papa approached, leaning out to grab him with an excited screech of, "Appaaf!"

Her grubby little hands laid purchase on Levi's pristine white shirt as he reached down to wipe her cheeks. The room went silent as the Corporal took in the large chocolate stain on his perfect-strike that, _formerly_ perfect-white shirt. Hazel giggled happily as Levi leaned down to examine the stain, leaning in and leaving a sloppy, chocolatey kiss on his cheek. You could've heard a pin drop.

"L-levi...she didn't mean it, it was just an accident..." Eren said carefully, worried his lover's OCD may take over the calm demeanor he held around their children.

Levi's eyes snapped to his with a glare. He turned back to Hazel, a deep frown etched into his face. His daughter looked at him with innocent eyes, a small frown pushing out her lip as she saw her Papa's face. Levi sighed and ruffled the girl's chestnut locks. Her eyes brightened again and she cooed at him happily, holding out her hands to be cleaned.

The whole room exhaled in relief as Levi calmly cleaned Hazel and took her into his arms. Eren did so similarly to Cayden, who by then was screeching for attention, hating his hands being dirty longer than they had to be. Levi gave the twins both a peck on their heads before turning to the squad with cold eyes.

"Thank you for coming," he said darkly, "Now, for thinking that I would hurt my daughter for ruining a stupid fucking shirt, you bastards can clean this mess."

Then he began to stalk back to their quarters.

Eren stuttered, "L-levi is that really fair?"

He sent his lover a sly glance, "I think it's plenty fair, seeing as though you're going to have your hands full cleaning two brats."

The younger's head tilted in question.

"Well then what are you going to..?"

Levi carefully handed Hazel over to Eren, raising an eyebrow.

"Where do you think? These stains will never fucking come out if they set too long."

Eren's eyes widened.

"B-but can't that wait?!"

"I'll be back soon."

"LEVI!"

With that, the raven haired man stalked off to clean his shirt, and probably take a shower. Eren stared down the hall, dumbfounded. He looked down at his children, who were eyeing him curiously.

"Babies, sometimes your Papa is an ass," Eren grumbled as he started a bath.


	7. Time Flies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE LATENESS. Well, not really. We have been struggling a lot lately with writing and we didn't have this chapter pre-written like a lot of them...BUT we have finally emerged successful! And thus this chapter is born! So yeah, sorry about how long it took, but we needed that time to get our writing up to standards.  
> ANYWAYS...We don't own Attack on Titan, aight? We do, however, own the babies in this fic. If you wanna play with them just ask okay?  
> Read and review as always and please enjoy the fic!
> 
> ~Aria and Ghousties

Movement on the bed immediately awoke him. Eren sat up and peered around blearily. 

“Easy, Eren,” a familiar voice murmured, “It's just me.”

 He rubbed at his face tiredly, glancing to the windows of their suite. “Wha’ time’s it?” he asked in a mild slur.

 Levi huffed with amusement, “Early. I've got to oversee Shadis and some other people training new recruits - Erwin’s orders - but I should be back around lunchtime.”

 Eren laid back down and groaned, “Eyebrows should schedule it later…”

 This time, he earned himself a warm chuckle from his spouse. “Go back to sleep, love,” Levi told him softly.

 “Mmm’kay… Don't kill anyone,” was his sleepy response.

 The older male kissed his temple and made for the door, “No promises. See you later.”

 Eren was back asleep before the door fully shut.

 The next thing he heard was the sound of babbling coming from the twins’ attached room. Eren smiled and rose with a small yawn. Light was peeking through the curtains, telling him it was at least a more reasonable hour. He hastily changed out of his nightclothes and into fresh ones for the day. Then after making the bed, he allowed himself to see to the twins.

 “I love waking up to you two,” he called as he entered their room.

 “Dadadada mmah babapa!” Came Hazel’s excited cry.

 His smile intensified as he scooped her into his arms. “Hi baby girl,” he said cheerfully, “sleep good?”

 Her response was a large grin that lit up her little face. “Dadadammpha!”

 Cayden let out a small shriek from their bed, sitting up with his hands outstretched to be picked up.

 Eren kissed Hazel on the cheek and shifted her to the side to bring Cayden into his arms as well. The task might have one time proved to be difficult. Now, he moved with ease as he picked up his son. “And how are you my baby boy?”

 The boy smiled a little and patted his collarbone, “Dahda mah bahmm.”

 He blinked in surprise and stared at him. “Wait.. y-you just…”

 “Dadadaaa,” Hazel drew out with a furrowed brow that was eerily reminiscent of Levi. She looked up at him, “..Dada?”

 Eren was frozen in utter surprise and awe. They had been babbling for so long, random syllables and made up words, but lately it had been changing and their long phrases were clipped down to a few syllables at a time - as if mimicking actual speech. And now..

 “Dahhda?” Cayden was looking up at him too.

 “Yes,” he breathed with happiness, “Dada, that's me, babies. I'm daddy.”

 The twins broke into simultaneous smiles.

 His heart swelled with love. Eren planted a kiss to either of their heads and held them close, smiling brightly when they cuddled back. “I love you so much babies,” he murmured warmly.

 “Dada mmmah pah bah,” Hazel returned.

 He chuckled as he pulled them away, “Is that so Hazey?”

 Cayden was looking down and let out a small coo of interest.

 Eren followed his gaze and understood immediately. “Alright, I'll put you down to play for a bit while I change your sister.”

 With some easy maneuvering, he set his son in the gated play area Hanji had helped him and Levi set up not long after the fire. 

 As much as he hated it, part of him would always remember that it had been a sort of distraction present from their researcher friend. He had struggled for a few weeks after the fire, between nightmares and constant worrying about being attacked again, but he had finally been able to settle down some and focus on his growing children. Additionally, he and Levi’s work arrangement had finally been finished up with Erwin and Zackly, which was something else for him to think about. 

 Levi was being reassigned as the official head of Survey Corps training, which meant he was the one who arranged exercises and did his best to make sure the troops would be ready to face titans. Under him were ten others who would be aiding him in ensuring the exercises went over smoothly. He was also going to be in charge of assigning troops to squads. Though with his reassignment, he was keeping his title as Captain and Squad Leader of the Special Ops group. He also got to keep his office as there was still paperwork to be done.

 Eren had gotten a new position as well. He had officially been named the Lieutenant of the Special Ops Squad, (though everyone had called him that long enough that it was hardly anything new). Though instead of getting more work with his title, he was given less. This was in a combined effort from Erwin and Zackly to give him time with Hazel and Cayden. Two days out of the week he was required to do something on base - whether it be training, paperwork, cleaning, or even the occasional experiment with Hanji - but otherwise he was free to care for the twins.

 Both of them were still required for expeditions but were allowed to request someone to stay back to watch their children. Erwin had even told them that he would exempt one of them if it was a low priority expedition.

 All in all, Eren was humbled by the consideration the Commander and Supreme Commander had given their little hodgepodge family. He knew that part of them agreeing so readily to their initial terms was due to the triumphs he and Levi had helped give the Survey Corps. Either way, he was glad things had worked out.

 Eren began sifting through the drawer of the kids’ clothing to find them outfits for the day. “Hmm hmm hmm,” he pondered, “we may have to go shopping soon babies, we don't have that much that fits you right now.” The mental image of Levi’s face at such news was enough to make him chuckle. “Papa is gonna freak out, he hates shopping.”

 “Pahpaaaaa?” Hazel mimicked uncertainly.

 He beamed and spun around with Hazel in his grasp. She shrieked with excitement at the motion, her little face lighting up with glee. It warmed his heart impossibly so.

 “Alright, time to focus! It's near lunchtime which means we’ll get to see Papa!” He told his kids. “Gotta make sure you're all pretty for him.”

 “Ooohbahba?” 

* * *

 

 By the time Eren had put in a request for food to be delivered to Levi’s office - where he knew his spouse would be - it was almost an hour past lunchtime. He easily made his way to the familiar office on the second level of headquarters, mind reminiscing all the times he had followed his current route.

 The office door was propped open just enough that he noticed. A smile came to his lips. It was very uncommon for Levi to leave doors open by any measure--he preferred them closed, so he had obviously known they were coming to see him.

 “Anticipating our company, huh?” Eren called with a grin.

 His lover raised a brow, “Yes.. You are rather predictable, you know.”

 He huffed but continued forward into the office. “Oh fine, be rude. I'll just hand you the twin attack team to force a smile into you.”

 At the mention of their children, Levi’s eyes noticeably softened. “Hazel, Cayden,” he greeted.

 They shared a beaming smile as they looked at him.

 “Pahpapapapa,” Hazel replied, eyes wandering her surroundings.

 “..Pahpa,” Cayden said, almost like a question. 

 Levi stared at him with a tinge of shock, “Did he just-”

 “Papa!” Hazel cried, following her brother’s example.

 Eren grinned, “They did it to me too, I guess it just finally clicked.”

 The raven huffed quietly and rounded the desk to take Hazel from him, though Cayden pouted a bit at the motion. “Be patient Cayden,” he chastised softly. Hazel, meanwhile, was happily babbling to him, but he noticed it was more comprehensive than it usually was. “I can't wait until they're actually talking,” Levi muttered.

 Eren sighed dreamily, “Yeahhh it'll be nice to be able to understand everything.”

 “I'm just tired of their shitty babbles.” Came the quiet reply.

 “Levi!”

 He looked at him nonchalantly.

 A knock suddenly sounded at the door, thus interrupting their temporary peace. “Captain Levi! I bring a letter from Commander Erwin, sir!”

 The raven grunted with disinterest. “Enter.”

 A cadet stepped through, nodding to Eren as he walked past him. He dutifully handed off the letter and made a hasty retreat, no doubt to fulfill some other obligation.

 Eren sighed and sat down with Cayden, patting his back gently as he sat pouting. A period of relative silence passed between the mismatched family, safe for the occasional babble from one of their children.

 Levi frowned at the letter in his hand and leaned back against his desk, seeming displeased.

 Eren raised a brow to his spouse. “What's with the face, babe?” In his arms, Cayden cooed to his Papa.

 Levi bounced Hazel a bit in his arms as he set the letter down with a shake of his head. “Erwin is getting too fucking ambitious.”

 Part of him wanted to accost the other for his language, but he knew to hold his tongue given the tone of voice. “Oh?”

 “He wants 200 new troops trained and ready to go for the next expedition in a month,” his lover said.

 “PFFFFT!” Eren snorted. He went to say more but was interrupted by the loud laughter from their twin children. He looked between them in astonishment, a smile quickly enveloping his face at the sound of their joy. “Was that funny, babies?”

 In his lap, Cayden grinned widely and looked to his Daddy in anticipation.

 Eren replicated the sound loudly which was immediately followed by their hefty belly laughter. He couldn’t help but laugh with them.

 Levi watched the proceedings almost as if in a trance. Every time they would slow in giggles, Eren would once more do the sound and send them off again into hysterical laughter. 

 His heart clenched painfully in his chest at the sheer sweetness of the moment. This was true happiness, he realized. Seeing the faces of his three most prized people all scrunched up and red with laughter, eyes sparkling with happy tears. His lover glanced at him for no more than a moment, and he was overwhelmed with the affection he found in that gaze.

 The sound of the twin’s belly laughs echoed in the room and lightened his heart. Without his knowing, a smile had spread on his lips. The effect of their innocent laughter seemed to be contagious.

 It got to a point that Eren could hardly make the sound anymore between the sounds of his own amusement. He finally conceded after a time when they seemed to be calming down some. “Wow,” he breathed, wiping his cheeks to remove his tears, “that was unexpected.”

 “Yes,” Levi agreed, patting at Hazel’s back gently.

 Another knock sounded at the door.

 Internally, they shared a small groan of frustration. Their time could never go uninterrupted it seemed.

 “Who is it?” Levi questioned sardonically.

 “Cadet Brinston,” came the rigid reply, “I have brought the lunch order, sir.”

 At that, Eren hopped up and made for the door. “Oh thank god,” he said under his breath. He offered the cadet a kind smile, “Thanks for bringing it up for us.”

 “It was no trouble, Lieutenant Jaeger,” the young man assured as he rolled in a small cart. “I'll return for the cart at the end of lunch hour, sirs.” With that, he made a stiff retreat.

 Levi raised a brow at Eren who looked put off. “What's that face for?”

 Those brilliant eyes found his and narrowed slightly. “He called me Lieutenant _Jaeger_.”

 The raven couldn't help a smirk, “That's what bothered you?” Back when they had first talked about marriage, he had made sure that Eren knew he could keep his last name if he wanted. But even then his lover had been against the idea, saying that he wanted the Ackerman last name so he could wordlessly lay claims and feel pride over their union.

 “Of course,” Eren pouted, “you know how I feel about that. I married you and took your name, which means I'm Eren Ackerman. Hearing Jaeger makes me feel like they don't acknowledge us being an item.”

 Levi couldn't find the words to tell the other how damn pleased he felt about the fact that it bothered him to be referred to by his old name. It was a selfish sort of satisfaction, but one he couldn't seem to help. _You're definitely mine,_ he thought, glancing at the twins. _Nothing will change that._

 “Well that was a cadet, he probably doesn't know yet,” Levi offered as way of reply. “But forget that now, let's feed the monsters before they get rowdy.”

 Eren sent him a light glare, “Why do I feel like you're including me in that statement?”

 “Oh I am, don't worry.”

 “Asshole.”

 “Language, Eren, the kids are present,” he teased. He could see his spouse’s shoulders tense with aggravation out of the corner of his eye.

 “You're damn lucky I love you, Levi,” was the grumbled response. He moved out the little chair and table set from the corner of the room, the one that had been made especially for the twins. Once he had it set, he plopped Cayden down in his chair gently. “There we go baby, now keep still so you don't tip over again.”

 Levi followed suit with Hazel, patting her hands away softly when she reached to keep hold on his jacket. “No, it's time for lunch,” he scolded lightly.

 Hazel huffed but remained in her seat, hands smacking lightly at the table.

 Eren delved out food, smiling when Hazel lit up and stuffed some of the thinly sliced cheese into her mouth. 

 “Bahba mmmmmum dah buh,” Cayden said to his sister.

 She grinned back at him, some of her food leaking out as she did.

 Levi sneered and immediately whipped out a handkerchief and wiped away the mess. “She is definitely more like you,” he muttered.

 Eren rolled his eyes, offering his husband a sandwich. “Even _I’m_ not that messy,” he declared in return. He bit into his own sandwich and hummed in a pleased manner.

 Together, they ate in relative silence, safe for Levi's occasional cursing as the twins steadily became messier while handling their food. It was calm and peaceful, something Eren felt he would never grow tired of.

 After having filled themselves, the babies found their way to the floor and were crawling around the area surrounding their table and chairs.

 Eren gathered the leftover crumbs and threw them out while Levi cleaned the table top thoroughly. With that done, they sat down to eat the rest of their own meal, allowing the babies time to roam the small office.

 “So how do you think you'll handle the reassignment?” Eren questioned curiously after a time.

 His spouse hummed lowly with thought. “I'm not sure. I'm not looking forward to handling more brats, but I see why it's a necessary step. The last idiot in charge of prepping the new troops hardly did so, so I've got a lot of things to rework and fix.”

 “But..?”

 The corner of his mouth twitched. Eren knew him so well. “But, overall, it'll be a nice change of pace; less paperwork too.”

 The brunette grinned and sat back in his chair, “Good. I was hoping you'd think so because I do too.”

 “How about you?” Levi asked, silver gaze probing.

 Eren laughed quietly, “Aw come on, babe, you know me. I'm glad I'll be able to spend so much time with the twins, I just..”

 “Worry that in doing so, you're becoming a hindrance.”

 “A bit, yeah.. I feel like I should be doing more around here,” he sighed.

 Levi nodded in understanding. “One could argue either way, but really there's not too much to do around here as of late; especially when there isn't an expedition. With our numbers on the rise, we have enough people to do everything on base. So, the only thing you'd really be able to do is more experiments with Shitty Glasses. Though she's been reluctant to do so since you passed out the last few times.”

 Eren flushed slightly at that, looking a bit ashamed. “I don't know why that happened, I felt fine.”

 “She figured it had something to do with your lack of sleep.” His gaze darkened, “Personally I think you've just transformed too much, your body can't handle it all.”

 “I know,” he replied softly, grabbing up one of Levi’s hands. “But I don't really have a choice in the matter, we still need my titan abilities.”

 Levi huffed but gave a light squeeze to his hand. “Whatever..”

 The younger sent him a loving smile, always feeling touched when his captain expressed concern for him. His gaze began wandering the room in search of their children when suddenly Levi stiffened beside him.

 “Eren...”

 He looked forward, eyes landing on the twins who had found their way back to their chairs. His breath hitched when he realized that they were using the chairs to balance on their feet. “They're doing it again,” he breathed.

 To both men’s amazement, Cayden let go of the back of the chair and waddled unsteadily to the nearby bookshelf, grasping on to the lowest shelf as soon as he got close.

 Eren shot to his feet with an ecstatic smile. “Cayden! You walked, baby!!”

 Never to be outdone by her sibling, Hazel ventured the opposite way to Levi’s desk with her hands stretched out in front of her.

 In the rush of excitement, Eren rounded the desk to find his daughter grinning up at him excitedly. “Hey baby!” He called brightly, eyes practically sparkling. “Good job honey,” he gushed, “I'm so proud of you two for walking! Your first steps!”

 He stood back up and smiled to his spouse, smile faltering when he saw Levi’s expression. “What's wrong, babe?”

 The other male had paled slightly as he watched Cayden maneuver the bookshelf before plopping on his bottom and crawling to find a new place to stand up.

 Eren went back around the desk with a furrowed brow, “Levi?”

 “...Have I really missed so much?” Came the near silent question.

 He frowned, “What do you mean?”

 Levi wouldn't meet his gaze. “They're _walking_ , Eren. I...I hardly knew they could stand up using support.” His expression seemed tormented. “Have I really been absent so much that I'm missing my children’s lives?”

 “No! No, no no,” Eren assured him in a rush, “they've been developing fast is all! Even Hanji commented on the fact! I promise you, Levi, you haven't been missing much.”

 Levi finally looked at him then, gaze narrowed as if to say ‘don't lie to me’.

 Eren offered a small smile, “Well lots of poopy diapers, quite a few tantrums, some messes and some other things…” Eren looked back to their kids who had managed to wrap their way around the desk. “But _this_ ,” he held out a hand to Hazel who grabbed his fingers tightly and waddled to his legs with a huge grin, “this is new.”

 Levi did similarly with Cayden, picking him up as soon as he was close enough. His son babbled with delight and snuggled up against his chest in contentment.

 Eren scooped up Hazel and kissed her cheek. “They only just started standing up against things a few days ago,” he said in awe, “I had no idea they would already try walking!”

 “I feel like I've missed so much,” Levi said, still sounding a bit downtrodden. “I'm a shitty father.”

 “No you're not,” his lover bit out immediately. “You work and then get to see them afterwards almost every day, you play with them and feed them at breakfast when you're able, you show them that they're loved at every opportunity, you help support me which in turn helps them, and you're there when I really need you… When _we_ really need you.”

 Eren again grabbed one of his hands, not even noticing that their children were watching the exchange with curious teal eyes. “A shitty father would never have done as much as you have, he wouldn't have been there when we needed him, he wouldn't try nearly as much as you do. You can't help it--you have to work, and yeah you may miss some things, but you're always present for the big things.” He smiled, “Like their first few words and their first steps just now. You were there for their first birthday, you got to see their first teeth come through.”

 Levi looked at him with a tinge of astonishment in his gaze.

 “They love you just as much,” Eren assured him warmly, “you're Papa and I'm Dada.. Together we make a pretty damn good team.”

 He always found himself surprised when he encountered a subject that he could tell his spouse was truly passionate about. Eren might be rather idiotic most times, but sometimes he knew exactly what to say.

 Levi scoffed weakly, “Shitty brat...”

 Eren beamed at him and pecked him on the cheek. “I love you too, babe. Don't ever think you're a bad father. Because if you're bad, then I must be terrible.”

 “I would say the opposite is true,” he retorted, patting absently at Cayden’s back.

 “Never.”

 Levi was quiet after that, apparently reassured for the time being.

 Eren felt pride bubble up within him for having successfully helped his spouse.

 They had often been called a ‘dream team’ by Hanji and a few others, as they always seemed to be able to work through any problems that might arise - whether it be a petty argument, a concern one of them had, or even a full out fight over a situation. It was apparently a rather coveted skill to have in a relationship--one that they easily possessed. When they did fight, they made up rather fast, talking through each other's point of view on the matter. It almost came as a secondary nature. It wasn't in either of them to leave their partner in emotional turmoil, or to purposefully hurt the other. They worked in tandem, and were damn good at it.

 “I still think they favor you,” Levi said eventually, though his tone was more teasing.

 Eren chuckled, “They're biased because I keep their underpants clean and feed them snacks when they need them.”

 Hazel cooed and patted at her daddy’s collarbone.

 “They're spoiled little shits,” his husband grumbled. 

 “Of course, but they're _our_ spoiled little shits.”

 Levi smirked, kissing the raven child in his arms on the head. 

 “Whatever you say, brat.”


	8. Another Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright kiddies. There's a slight time jump here, so the twins are now three! AHHHH! Also, warnings for this chapter: gang violence and domestic fights...so get ready!
> 
> Anyway, we do not own Attack on Titan or the characters belonging thusly. We DO own the babies however.
> 
> ENJOY YOUR SUFFERING!
> 
> ~Aria and the Ghousts

He was immediately aware of an extra body in the alley with him. Levi’s underground instincts had never quite left him, so when he heard the distinctive scrape of a foot behind him, he knew he was in trouble. He knew he was in even more when he heard multiple. He kept walking, hoping the possible assailants would get smart and leave him alone. No such luck. 

The light footsteps suddenly quickened and Levi turned on a foot to face his attackers. They were upon him in seconds. 

 The one that reached him first threw a clumsy punch--one easily avoided by the experienced Captain. He grabbed the man's fist as he dodged, using his momentum to flip the man over and onto his back. Another punch was thrown his way, and this one he deflected just barely with his arm. He landed a swift quick in the attacker’s gut, making them crumple to the ground.

 More and more of them kept appearing. Where there had only been two or three to start, the alley was beginning to fill with more--there were at least a dozen now. Levi gritted his teeth. No matter how much experience in fighting he had, there was no way he could take this many.

 He was in trouble.

 But he had to fight.

* * *

Levi was late. He had been due back from the capital earlier that evening, but it was well into the night and he still had yet to appear. Eren was worried and some instinct within him was sounding warning bells. Levi prided himself on being a timely person, so much that he usually arrived ahead of schedule - something  _ had  _ to be wrong for him to be so late. 

“Come on, come on… Where are you?” were his muttered words as he paced about the entryway to headquarters. The twins had been asleep for a couple of hours by that point, as had half of the soldiers on base. This was wrong.

Suddenly the front door opened, though slowly.

Eren’s attention was immediately upon the motion, his chest swelling in anticipation.

Levi staggered through the doorway, looking an absolute wreck. He was bruised and battered, dozens of cuts visible through the tears in his uniform, blood was seeping out from a wound on his arm, his breathing was ragged, and his hands were bloodied and darkly bruised. Yet, there was a distinct expression of anger and general distaste to be seen on his features.

Eren gaped in utter horror at the scene, the shock freezing him in his place. “Oh gods… Levi!”

 The raven peered up at him blearily, leaning against the door. He sighed heavily and allowed himself to relax some, feeling thankful to be back somewhere relatively safe.

 In seconds, he surged forward but hesitated to touch his spouse anywhere in fear of aggravating an unseen wound. His brow furrowed with concern as he took in the damage, “What the hell happened?!”

 He heaved a few breaths before leaning his head into Eren’s shoulder, “Fucking group of street thugs got a hold of me. I couldn’t fight them all off.”

 “Dammit,” Eren cursed. He carefully grabbed Levi’s arm and hooked it over his shoulder, supporting the side that his lover seemed to be protecting more. He began moving them forward slowly, frowning when Levi hissed in pain. “I’m waking up Hanji,” he declared.

 Levi swore under his breath, “Do you have to? Not sure I’m up to dealing with her shit right now.”

 Eren grunted and peered over at him. Those vibrant eyes widened when they landed on his arm, “Wait… i-is that a bullet hole?”

 He shifted his arm a bit, giving a minor wince as he did. “It only grazed me. I only need a few bandages and some sleep, that’s it.”

 “They shot at you!?” His partner was visibly shaken by such a revelation. “What else did they do??” He shook his head, “No.. you need to be checked over by Hanji.”

 The older male groaned quietly, “They ganged up on me like fucking cowards and beat the shit out of me. It’s nothing I haven’t had before.”

 Eren’s breath hitched, “Levi…” Tears welled up in his eyes.

 Levi huffed and brought their foreheads together, “Calm down you damn brat. I’ll let Hanji look me over, but I’m fine.”

 His husband shook his head, crying softly. “Stop that.. You’re not fine. You’re not in the Underground anymore, L-Levi. Let us help you. There’s something wrong or you wouldn’t be hurting this much.”

 He rolled his eyes and appeared disgruntled, but nodded nonetheless. “Fine, whatever.”

 Eren pulled away enough to gently cup his battered cheeks. “I hate them,” he said, “they tried to take you from me.”

 This time he was silent as he averted his gaze.

 The response was concerning. “Levi?”

 “ _What_?” Came his snippy reply.

 He tried desperately to not let it get to him, he knew the man had to be in serious pain. But there was more than physical injury to deal with, his pride had also been hurt, no matter how absurd it was. “There was nothing you could’ve done with them ganging up on you. It’s a miracle you’re not more severely injured.” Eren steered his spouse towards the nearest cot and settled him down on it.

 “I would have to agree with that,” a new voice said. Eren jumped a bit, not having realized they had been followed in.

 Hanji stepped forward, looking nothing short of furious. “How many throats do I need to slit, Levi?”

 Levi tightened his jaw, grateful for the distraction. “At least ten, maybe more. It was a bit hard to tell when I was fighting them off.” He would be hard pressed to ever admit that they had gotten the upper hand and gotten him to the ground. It had been a long time since he had been ganged up on, and never had he faced so many at one time. Eren was entirely correct, it was remarkable that he wasn't still lying there in the aftermath.

 Hanji scoffed in response, “Should've figured. Dumbasses don't stand a chance otherwise.”

 He smirked despite himself, “Damn right.”

 Eren was unusually quiet, though those large eyes gave away his inner anger. A fire was stirring within him and it wouldn't soon be quenched.

 “First thing’s first,” their researcher friend said, “I need your jacket off to see the full damage. I can already tell you have a mild concussion, which is probably part of your attitude. Let me access your ribs..” She pressed lightly against his chest, grimacing at the slight give she felt.

 “Fuck!” Levi all but shouted, “Don’t press so hard d-dammit.” He cursed himself mentally for audibly portraying weakness.

 She held up her hands in surrender when she had finished, “Sorry, sorry. Looks like three broken and a lot of bruising.”

 Eren wordlessly grabbed up one of his lover’s hands and cradled it against himself, eyes flickering with both fiery anger and deep concern.

 “Okay jacket off, I need to see the rest; especially that bullet wound.”

 “It’s only a graze, shitty glasses,” he grumbled in reply. He was only just able to conceal the pain from his face as he sat forward and began trying to remove his jacket, though his brow was still tight with obvious discomfort. The last thing he wanted or needed was for Eren to coddle him due to his injuries.

 “That doesn’t change the fact that they fucking shot at you,” Eren growled. Despite his venomous tone, his motions were gentle as he helped the other remove his uniform jacket.

 Levi grunted and let his arms fall limply when the troublesome thing was off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.. Just patch me up and give me painkillers. I’ll be fine.”

 Hanji looked him dead in the eyes as she took a firm hold of his bad leg and extended it towards her with a slight jerk.

 “Shit!!” He instinctively hunched forward with the pain, glaring harshly at his comrade. “Fucking warn me or something dammit!”

 Her dark expression was reply enough. “You’ll be fine, huh? So I should just ignore the sprained ankle?” She shook her head at him, “Face it, Levi, you’re out of comission for a couple of weeks in the very least while all of this shit heals. Drop the damn ‘I’m fine’ act.”

 He knew it was true, he did. But he couldn’t accept his current state of weakness. “No. No fucking way. I’m going to deal with it. I still have to find those fuckers and finish them off before they come back again.”

 Eren looked a mix of horrified and pissed off. “No. No. _NO_! Stop this! In your state now, they wouldn’t hesitate to finish what they started. I won’t fucking let you do that.”

 Levi was a bit taken aback by the outburst, but outwardly appeared offended. His gaze dropped to his lap in defeat. “If I hadn't have been so weak and failed, this wouldn't even be an issue,” he muttered angrily.

 His heart ached for his spouse, hating the self admonishment. Eren grabbed his face with a tender hold. “You're _not_ weak, Levi. You survived a gang fight, fought back, and brought yourself home despite your injuries. If the tables had been turned, I wouldn't have made it out at all.”

 He shot him a pointed glare, “Shut your mouth, you would have; you're no pushover Eren. Besides I would've gotten the sons of bitches responsible for it, and ended them.” Levi couldn’t hold back a wince as Hanji continued prodding him for further injury.

 “And what do you think I’m planning to do?” Eren asked scathingly. “They’re _not_ getting away with this, not by a fucking long shot.”

 “ _You_ aren’t doing anything. The kids need you, so just leave it all to me.” The look he received made him scowl, “And if you’re going to get your damn knickers in a twist, I’ll wait a few days before going.”

 “No.”

 “No?”

 The expression Eren wore was somewhat reminiscent of the scolding face he had for the kids. “No, Levi. You are injured. Your ribs are _broken_. You’re not going anywhere.”

 “That’s why I said a few days,” he replied nonchalantly.

 Both Hanji and Levi were surprised when the titan shifter shot to his feet and grabbed at his hair in rising frustration.

 “Stop it!” He half shouted, “Your ribs won’t heal in a few days, dammit! You don’t have my titan healing, it’s going to take weeks. They’ll know they’ve injured you and go for your weak points.” His gaze was alight with a determined fire, “I’m going after them. You have to rest and heal.”

 The raven haired Captain frowned, “You’re not going after them on your own.”

 Hanji suddenly pulled on the bandage she was winding around his ankle, tightening it in a painful manner.

 “Fucking s-shit! Stop that you bitch!”

 “Of course he’s not going alone,” she said seriously. “What am I? Titan fodder?”

 Eren grabbed up his husband’s hand again, kissing it softly. “I need you here Hanji, he might need you. You’re the only one I trust to look after him.”

 Levi grumbled under his breath, the words ‘fucking fine’ only just audible.

 He glared weakly, “Shut it, babe. It makes me feel better to have you here, Hanji, honestly.”

 “Fine, fine,” she sighed, “I’ll stay here with Captain Grouch-Ass, but you’re taking Moblit with you.”

 Levi looked to him with a very sour expression, “You’re not going.”

 “Why can’t you trust me with this?”

 “Eren, I fought them, not you. I have years of street fighting experience and I was still overwhelmed, so what makes you think you’d stand a chance? I won’t have you recklessly running to them and getting hurt.”

 His lover looked a bit betrayed by his words. “I may not have a lot of experience with street fights, but I know how to fight. I lived on the streets too. Plus, they wouldn’t have let me into the Survey Corps if I didn’t know how to fight! Does that count for nothing?”

 A dark expression took Levi’s face, “You think your shitty academy training and measly one year of life on the streets is even close to the twenty years I spent fighting for my life? It doesn’t even compare, Eren. If those assholes got the best of _me_ , they would have no problem picking you off. Like hell I’m going to let you fight them.” He was mildly surprised when tears welled up in his spouse’s eyes.

 “Thanks for pointing out how useless I am,” was the bitter reply.

 He scowled and grabbed the younger man with his good arm, holding him close. “Stop twisting my words. You’re _not_ useless, shithead, you’ve proven that numerous times in the past. I have no doubt that you’d give those bastards hell, but I’m not going to let you.” His voice quieted as he looked down at their joined hands. “The truth of it is that they overwhelmed me and it fucking scared me. I won’t have you coming home like I did, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

 Eren pulled away, but not entirely so. He looked so defeated. “I am useless. All those times I was injured in the past.. All the times I got to lay in bed realizing how fucking worthless I am while _you_ handled all the fighting.”

 The admission hurt to hear. How had he not seen the signs that Eren was struggling with himself?

 “You’re always protecting and defending me, Levi,” he continued softly, “and I’m the one left to be a useless heap in a sickbed.” His vibrant eyes glittered with unshed tears, ones he refused to let fall. “I’m done. I’m going to fight this one for you and I don’t give a damn if you don’t want me to. They hurt you. I won’t forgive myself if I let that go.”

 Levi was quiet for a long moment, seemingly searching his soul as he gazed back into his eyes. At long last, he scoffed. “Obviously you’re not going to see reason.. so you had better be careful.”

 Eren blinked in utter surprise, though it quickly morphed into a smile. He leaned in and stole a kiss, “Thank you.”

 “Shut up,” he snapped without any real heat to his tone. Perhaps the brat had a point, maybe just this once he could hand him the reins and allow him to handle things. He hated his own weakness, and felt a burning shame that he had not fared better.. but who was he to hold Eren back if he truly believed he could and should do it?

 Hanji cleared her throat and moved away from her patient momentarily. “You definitely need to take Moblit. He’s nowhere near Levi level, but that man can get dirty in a street fight.” Her attention then moved to her friend, “Alright you mummy, I’ve got basically everything wrapped and treated, now do yourself a favor and relax.”

 He shot her a distasteful glance, “And how the hell am I supposed to that?”

 She smirked and jabbed him with a syringe, pumping him full of heavy painkillers. “Like that,” she said simply.

 Levi glared, eyes slightly widened, “You bitchh…” He fell forward into Eren’s waiting arms, quickly succumbing to the medication running in his veins.

 Eren gently settled him back on the cot, brushing his bangs from his face, “You really making me take Moblit?”

 She glanced at him sideways, “You really going after them?”

 He nodded.

 “I’ll tell Moblit.”

* * *

 When Levi next became aware, he was clothed in pajamas and resting in the infirmary room that Eren unfortunately seemed to frequent. He breathed out heavily when the full weight of his injuries hit him. The medicine had apparently worn off.

“Hey..” a soft voice called.

He blinked and peered over to his left to find his spouse sitting faithfully by his side. He grimaced at the tender look he was recieving, the expression for some reason irritated him. “How long?”

Eren reached out and smoothed his bangs, “Around four hours, it’s nearing dawn now.” His gaze flickered with concern, “Are you in pain? Is that why you woke up?”

“I’m fine, Eren. Get that fucking look off your face.”

A strike of hurt went through him. He had to remind himself that one of Levi’s rather numerous injuries had been a mild concussion which would undoubtedly affect his moods. "...Sorry.”

“Ahh! Our favorite Captain Grouch-Ass awake from his beauty sleep? Still feeling like you can take on the rest of a gang and finish what you started?”

He glared at her.

Hanji smirked, “Thought so. Rest easy, dummy, the investigation is already underway. We’re handling things without your reckless self going after them.”

 “Shut the fuck up, Hanji,” he growled in warning, sitting up in the bed.

 She crossed her arms, “And where are you off to?”

 “To make myself useful,” he spat, bad arm trembling as it struggled to support him.

 “Watch that arm, I popped it back into socket while you were out.”

 “ _Shut up_.”

 Eren’s brow furrowed. He reached out and put his hand over his spouse’s, “Levi, please, you need to rest more. Hanji only just patched you up completely a few hours ago!”

 “Fuck no, I’m fine,” he snapped back, continuing to try and rise from the bed.

 Hanji raised a quizzical brow and pushed lightly against his shoulder, successfully knocking him back onto his elbows.

 Levi visibly flinched as his injuries were jarred at the movement, “ _Fuck!_ Don’t do that shitty glasses!”

 “Then stop trying to get up, dumbass! You’re seriously injured. You can’t just prance yourself out of here.”

 He audibly scoffed, “My shoulder hurting is not an excuse to slack off. Let me out of this damn bed so I can go get some work done.” With that, he tried again to rise from the infirmary bed.

 The brunette scowled at him and pushed him down all the way, “Don’t give me that crap, you and I both know it’s not just your shoulder. Did you think I hadn’t noticed you gritting your teeth?”

 Eren sent him a pleading glance, feeling a bit unsure as to what to do. “Listen to her Levi, please.”

 “No,” was his growled reply, “I’m not going to sit here like a worthless piece of shit.”

 The titan shifter’s fists clenched in rising frustration. “You’re not worthless, you’re injured. There’s a huge difference.” He didn’t understand why his spouse couldn’t just see things as they were.

 “Being an injured piece of shit is no better than being a worthless one. I won’t sit here and be coddled,” Levi said.

 Eren couldn’t keep the hurt from entering his glare, “And how the hell do you think I feel every time the tables are turned and _I’m_ the one in the bed? I dealt with it. So shut up, lay down and rest.”

 Those silver eyes turned on him like daggers. “No, Eren, I won’t. I’m either getting out of this bed or you’re going to go get my fucking paperwork, so I can actually make myself useful.”

 Seeing that things would continue to escalate, Hanji quietly left with the intent to get the two things she knew would stop their fighting.

 The younger shot from his seat and shook his head, “No! You have never let me do anything because you knew that was best for me. So I’m going to do the same damn thing to you!”

 “The hell you are! Go get my goddamn paperwork, you useless shit!”

 His brilliant eyes hardened with frustrated determination, “No. You’re going to fucking rest. Don’t fight me on this, Levi.”

 Levi’s expression was incredibly dark, clearly showing the anger he felt. “ _Go get my paperwork_.”

 It wasn’t so much the anger that got to him, it was the pure hostility in his lover’s voice that tore at his heart. His eyes filled with tears as a sense of hopelessness rose from the pit of his stomach. “No… you need to rest. Stop this.”

 “Don’t you fucking cry on me, Jaeger. Go and get my fucking paperwork and I’ll relax once something gets done.”

  _Jaeger_.. Levi hadn’t referred to him as that since they had gotten married. The sudden resurfacing of the old nickname stung and forced his tears down his face. “Then stop being so fucking unreasonable,” he cried. “I didn’t do anything to deserve you being such an asshole! Just stop and listen to reason. You can’t even hold a pen in that busted up hand of yours!”

 He groaned in frustration and slammed his fist into the nearby end table. Eren flinched at the noise and stepped away, half of him expecting pain; an old and forgotten habit from his time in the hands of the military police.

 “If you’re going to be such a bitch about this, I’m just going to get it my own goddamn self.” With clear effort, he pushed himself to his feet.

 Eren’s shoulders trembled as he watched, keeping himself from aiding his stubborn lover. “I’m not going to help you hurt yourself,” he murmured.

 The door to the room suddenly opened as Levi limped towards it, revealing their twin children. They looked up at him with matching sleepy teal pools, Hanji stood behind them with her hands on her hips.

 “P-Papa?” Hazel called a bit unsurely, eyes taking in his bandages.

 His face softened a bit at the sight of them, “Hi babies. Papa just needs to go get something from his office really quick, want to come with me?”

 Before they could even answer, Hanji stepped around them and gave him a vicious grin. “Actually, Papa needs some nice company here in _bed_ because he’s really tired!” She then proceeded to manhandle him back towards the bed.

 Levi struggled against her the whole way, cursing as he went. “Get the hell off of me, dammit!”

 She none too gently shoved him back into the bed and leered over him. “I will restrain you if I must, Ackerman,” she hissed. “You’ve obviously greatly upset your spouse, don’t scare your kids too.”

 He paused in his fight and sent a quick glance to his downtrodden husband and curious looking children. He frowned and glared at the researcher. “You will fucking pay for this,” he whispered.

 Hanji smirked in response, “Counting on it. Now you had better fucking apologize once the kids fall asleep or I will literally kick you while you’re down. Seriously, there’s no need to be a dick.”

 Levi said nothing but was visibly seething from his reclined position.

 The woman offered the twins an angelic smile, “Cheer Papa up for Aunt Hanji and Daddy, ‘kay kiddies?”

 They blinked at her and turned their attention to Eren who was wiping away his tears.

 He offered them a weak smile when he noticed their gazes. “We’ve got to make sure Papa rests, babies,” he said softly, voice straining a bit.

 From the bed, the normally cool headed Captain was spouting profanities and grumbling angrily. “I fucking hate this bullshit,” he muttered at one point.

 Cayden worked himself onto the bed and tilted his head, “What ‘fucking’, Papa?”

 Hazel, meanwhile, followed her twin up and grabbed one of their parent’s larger hands and held it delicately. “Why Papa mad?”

 Levi seemed to be too angry to even hear their questions, as he merely continued in his stream of curses.

 Hazel whimpered when the hand she was holding suddenly tightened around hers, “P-Papa..”

 Eren noticed this immediately and stepped forward, placing a hand on Levi’s shoulder in warning.

 His spouse’s gaze was deadly when it flickered up to him. “Papa is fucking pissed off because Daddy is being a piece of shit,” he said as if to explain to the twins.

 The younger male flinched away as if he had been struck, his large eyes filling with a deep sadness.

 Cayden frowned, “Papa, no call Daddy mean names. Daddy is sad.”

 “I wouldn’t have to if he wasn’t being mean,” he muttered.

 Hazel patted his cheek with her small hand, “But Daddy is momma, he mean because he worry.”

 Almost silently, the subject of their conversation left the room.

 “Daddy…” Cayden called after him sadly. His brow furrowed and he looked to his other parent with what could only be described as a look of scolding. “Bad Papa!”

 “No yelling Papa, hurt feelings,” Hazel chastised right alongside her twin.

 Levi suddenly realized how silly it all was. He was being scolded by his three year olds on an adult matter and they were being sensible about it, while he was behaving childishly over something his spouse really had nothing to do with. “You’re definitely your Daddy’s brats,” he relented.

 Eren’s absence from the room suddenly made him feel as though he were in a void. He always took the warming presence his spouse had for granted and regretted it afterwards. A sickening feeling wormed its way into his gut.

 “You two should go to Daddy,” he said to them with a hint of shame, “he needs you more than I do right now.”

 Both of them shook their heads in disagreement.

 “Daddy not like us see him cry,” Cayden said, snuggling up against him with heavy eyes.

 “So we stay here,” Hazel declared, “Auntie Hanji woke us up. We tired.”

 Levi found nothing more to say as the twins fell back asleep on either side of him. Their small forms were comforting, and the heat they radiated seemed to seep into his bruised body and ease the pain.

 Eren reentered the room nearly 15 minutes after their children had succumbed to sleep. In his hands was a stack of paperwork and various pens he must’ve rummaged around for. He set them on the end table nearby without looking at him.

 “Here, knock yourself out,” he said in a biting tone.

 The raven found himself mildly surprised by the gesture, “Thanks…”

 He stopped in his motion to leave. “..I’m not going to act like I’m not bothered by this,” he said softly. “You really upset me but I know that you don’t care right now.. And that’s.. Fine. Just know that despite this hurt, despite everything in me screaming not to give in and let you have this _damn_ paperwork, I’m doing it. I’m doing it because I love you.”

 The words stung, but Levi knew his own words must’ve hurt worse for Eren. Regret made a home in his stomach, his skin nearly crawled from the feeling.

 “I’m sorry I’m such a terrible disgrace to you. Rest well.”

 “You’re not a disgrace Eren,” Levi murmured instinctively. _I’m the disgrace here._

 Eren faltered in his bravado, “I-I’m not doing this now. You got what you wanted, so everything is as it should be. I’m going to check in on the investigation. Good evening, Captain.” With that, he left.

 Captain. He couldn’t even remember the last time Eren had called him that seriously. Levi wanted to kick himself for his earlier pettiness. He could’ve blamed the pain, or the mild concussion, or even his own self hatred, for his words. But it wouldn’t change the fact that he had said the things he had. He had verbally struck out against his spouse and now he would have to face the damage he had caused.

 Vaguely he recalled the tears in Eren’s eyes as he bristled with rage, the severe flinch in response to his anger fuelled pound on the end table, that dark sadness in his eyes as he left the room.

 Looking at the stack of paperwork sitting innocently on that end table made him feel sick. He settled deeper into the bed, pulling his children closer. His arm and ribs twinged painfully at the movement but he ignored it. With remorse running thick through his system, he made himself relax enough to rest. He owed it to Eren to actually listen to reason.


	9. Resolution

It was a full two days before Levi saw Eren again. Others came and went, Hanji and Erwin being the most common faces that he saw. Hazel and Cayden also showed up often, usually with books or games in tow. Armin and Mikasa were watching the duo, as apparently the resident shifter had requested it of them without much explanation.

When at last his lover showed up, he was in full uniform and standing at attention.

Though in a bit of a daze from the latest dose of painkillers, Levi immediately sat up more. “Eren-”

“Captain,” he said whilst avoiding looking at him, “I came to give you an update on the status of the investigation, if you’re able to listen.”

Again the sting, that it had been he who had caused this distance, hit him and ate away at his conscious. “Eren..” he tried again.

His lover faltered only a bit, “Yes, Captain, it’s me. So far we have only found three culprits. Though based upon your report, we have quite a few others to find. We are searching high and low-”

“Eren cut that crap,” he interrupted smoothly, “and come here. I haven’t seen you for awhile.”

His facade was failing him. Eren desperately avoided eye contact, “Captain…. I only came to update you, you need to rest.”

Levi nodded, “I am resting, as I have been for the past two days you’ve been away. Now, come here.”

The brunette’s eyes welled with tears, “I’m glad you’ve been resting.. But I really shouldn’t interrupt that now.”

It was plainly obvious that Eren was the one needing the rest. Deep bags lay beneath his eyes, and his normally bright gaze was dulled with just barely concealed exhaustion. The raven scowled lightly, “Come here anyways.”

There was almost a pleading sound to those words. It drew him closer, even if he did so reluctantly. He only approached to a point before stopping.

Levi calmly reached out and pulled him closer so that he was forced to sit on the edge of the bed. Then, he pulled his hand outwards, palm side up.

“Levi…”

He said nothing as he pulled something out from underneath his bedcovers and laid it delicately in Eren’s palm.

Eren looked to his hand, to behold a lotus flower made from folded papers. His heart sunk a bit as he realized what it must’ve been made from. “Levi! Those could’ve been important papers! You shouldn’t have-”

“Erwin has extra copies of them,” Levi assured him.

A moment of silence passed between them as Eren fought to keep his composure from crumpling, and Levi fought to find the words he needed to say.

“Something so small doesn’t right the wrong I’ve done to you,” he began, “but it was my hope that it would show you that I did listen, and I do care.” Levi reached out and lifted his chin tenderly and kissed him softly. “I was entirely out of line the other day, and I apologize. I felt so useless and defeated that I turned to anger and unnecessarily took it out on you.”

Eren set the token of affection aside and let his tears fall. “I-It hurt so much.. I knew you were hurting and your pride was damaged, but I wasn’t expecting to be made the subject of your subsequent anger… I tried n-not to let it get to me, but I’m not sure I succeeded.”

Levi’s gut twisted in further remorse. He reached out and tugged his beloved spouse forward to rest back on the bed alongside him. “I was awful to you,” he agreed in shame, “and I regret every moment of it. I can’t believe that I let it get so out of hand.. I said such terrible things… in front of our kids no less.”

The other sobbed weakly as he huddled into his neck, “P-Please don’t push me away like that again.”

“I won't,” he assured him immediately.

Eren nodded and tried to calm himself some. “I’m sorry too. I got just as angry with you and I shouldn’t have when you were already down..”

A wane smile came to his face as his brat’s peacekeeping nature arose. He reached his good hand to entangle in those luscious chocolate colored locks. “You have no need to be sorry, this was all my doing.”

Another blanket of silence fell upon the room as the younger male quieted his sobs to sniffles.

“I took your advice after you left,” Levi told him. “I haven’t used these hands except to make that.” His gaze landed on the intricate little flower he had crafted. It had taken all of his patience and a dose or two of painkillers as his knuckles were still raw and cracked from his fight, but he had done it all with care.

Eren too looked upon it, eyes taking in all the folds of the paper with a sense of rapture.

Origami was a lesser known art; one that required patience, attention to detail, and practice. The magnificent results were hardly ever seen, except from the odd street beggar desperate for anything someone might give them. So seeing the innocent little flower sitting so properly on the other side of the bed, was truly a treat; especially knowing his husband had taken the time to make it for him.

“I didn’t know you knew origami,” he admitted quietly.

Levi chuckled lowly, “It’s not something I like to broadcast. I was taught by some girls in the Underground long ago. They were using their skills in it to make some coin. I haven’t folded anything in a long time, I had nearly forgotten how to.”

Unable to find any fitting words, Eren pressed their lips together again. “I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better,” he whispered.

“Only because I took my husband’s advice,” Levi returned.

He smiled. “I worried about you the whole time, but stayed away because I thought you would still be mad.”

The raven huffed, “Probably for the best, so I couldn’t do more damage.” He still felt guilty about it all, though the feeling had abated some.

Eren just barely stifled a yawn, his eyes feeling heavier and heavier as he lay there beside Levi. He had to stay awake and see the investigation through, there was still work to be done.

“You haven’t slept since I came back, have you?”

Mentally, he cursed the older male for being able to read him so easily. “No,” he relented, “there was too much happening and I was too upset to even think of trying. Plus I owed it to you to find these bastards quickly.”

Levi scoffed, “The only thing you owe me is taking care of yourself. You have to rest some, Eren, even if just for a few hours.” With his good hand, he pulled his lover closer which he hoped would encourage him to sleep.

He grumbled incoherently and ever so gently rested his head on Levi’s chest, trying desperately not to bring the man anymore pain.

“Oh get comfortable,” Levi told him, “Hanji has me on so many painkillers that I’ll hardly feel the difference.”

“Shut up, asshole,” Eren grouched, “I’m trying to fall asleep.”

He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had managed to mend some of the distance in between them. The sound of Eren’s even breathing began lulling him back into slumber. Before he succumbed to it, he planted another kiss to his brat’s forehead.

He still had some apologizing to do, but it was a start.

* * *

The next few days passed too slowly for Levi’s liking. It wasn't the first time that he had found himself envying his lover’s healing abilities. Eren was gone most of the time, apparently out hunting for his attackers. The thought hit him that the anxiousness he felt at not being able to help was probably what Eren experienced whenever he was in such a position. It was a most bothersome predicament, one that he swore to try and rectify for them both in the future.

The kids visited often, with a different adult in tow every time. Sometimes it was Mikasa and Armin, sometimes just one of them, other times it was Jean or Sasha and Connie, even Ymir and Historia had made appearances in accompaniment to his children; it was interesting to see. And internally, he allowed himself to be immensely grateful for their large support group.

Hanji predominantly kept him on a constant mixture of pain remedies, saying that she was trying to spare him from the worst of the pain. She kept up with changing his bandages and showed up about every two hours to ensure his comfort and whatever else. It was a sort of schedule that he could follow in such a chaotic time. 

As the days passed, his thoughts unwittingly wandered back to his ordeal and the faces he could remember from the mob. He knew just as well as anyone else that identities would be needed in order to apprehend the culprits. Any detail he remembered, he had it immediately relayed to the investigation team in hopes that it would aid them.

Apparently his help had amounted to something, as he received word from Hanji that a solitary strike team was going to infiltrate a makeshift base formed by the mob that had attacked him. If all went well, every single one of them would be taken into custody.

Levi hoped Eren would get some hits in for him. 

* * *

Levi’s light dozing was interrupted by Hazel and Cayden walking through the door. He grimaced some as he shifted on the bed. Hanji had not returned to pump him full of more painkillers, something he found himself loathing her for. Tardiness was something he had never tolerated in people. 

Jean’s head appeared in the doorway, “Is it alright if they visit for awhile, Captain? They’ve been bothering us all day to…”

He waved off the man, “It’s fine.”

Immediately the duo approached his bed with matching grins, clearly pleased they were granted entrance. Jean disappeared from view to who knows where.

Levi attempted to return the expression, but it fell short.

Cayden, being the extremely observant three year old he was, noticed it instantly. He studied his Papa carefully for a solid minute before frowning slightly.

Hazel beamed to him, “Papa awake!!”

He tried not to visibly cringe at her vocal volume, though a quiet groan escaped him before he could stop it. “Yes, yes, I’m awake,” Levi replied lowly, hoping his daughter would take the hint.

And bless her, Hazel did. “Still hurt, Papa?” She asked much more quietly.

Cayden wordlessly pulled her towards the bed, taking his parent’s offered hand to get up onto the bed. He watched his sister do so likewise after him.

Levi had to fight the sounds of pain that threatened to spill forth at the movement. It was the first real time he had been able to feel the full effects of his numerous injuries since they had been sustained nearly five days before. Everything ached in a bone-deep way, his muscles trembled at the light use, his wounds twinged and pulled painfully at any slight movement. He dared not reveal any of it to his children. “It hurts a little,” he answered eventually, not particularly caring that he was being untruthful.

Cayden lightly tapped at his chest bandages in curiosity. “How long hurt?”

Hazel’s eyes widened as she looked to him with fright, “Until we’re four, Papa?!”

The mere thought of the possibility that he be in pain so long made him shudder internally. “No,” Levi assured them, “it won’t hurt that long. I’ll be better soon enough.”

They nodded in unison, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

Cayden suddenly crossed his arms and pouted slightly in a way that reminded Levi all too much of Eren. “Not still mad at Daddy?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “No. Daddy and I are fine now, we love each other very much and made up.”

Hazel tilted her head, “Why Daddy still scared?”

Initially, hearing that alarmed him. His previous actions had been reproachful to say the least, and he had honestly hoped that he hadn’t done any lasting damage to the emotional state of his lover. But thinking more on it brought to mind the worried and almost frightened expression Eren had bore upon seeing him after his ordeal. Remembering that allowed him to realize that Eren wasn’t scared of him.

“Daddy is scared because some bad men did a very bad thing, and he feels like he has to fix it for Papa. But doing that is a very big job and Daddy might be thinking he can’t do it,” he told them after mulling it over.

His son smiled lightly, “But Daddy good at fixing.”

“Yeah!” Hazel agreed enthusiastically. From her pocket, she procured their beloved plush cat. “Daddy fix Cookie too,” she said with a smile.

His gaze softened as he allowed himself a small smile. There were very few things that could coax such an expression from him, but he found himself unable to resist most times when it came to Eren and their children.

A sudden bolt of pain shot through him, instantly breaking the sense of peace. Levi’s hands clenched tightly on the bed sheets, pulling at them almost desperately. The wave of agony abated some, but not enough for him to relax. Not even his pride would let him tell himself that he didn’t need pain medication.

“Papa?” One of the kids called in concern. He was too engrossed by the pain to know who.

Hazel whined and forced Cookie into his hand, obviously in an attempt to help him feel better. A deep seated part of him wished that such a little thing would’ve worked.

The door to the room opened with a noticeable thunk, bringing his attention off of his current discomfort.

Eren stumbled through with a look of irritation, though the effect was hidden by the steady stream of blood flowing from his hairline. “Hanji really, I’m fine,” he said.

“Tell me that when you don’t have a fountain of blood pouring from your face, idiot,” the brunette sassed in response.

Hazel and Cayden looked to their other parent in fright.

Levi could only just focus on the intrusion. Waves of pain were almost overriding his senses, his teeth groaned at the pressure of being grit together. “What the fuck happened?” He questioned in concern.

Hanji shoved the younger male down into a chair, “ _ Sit _ .” Her gaze found Levi and immediately narrowed, “Oh shit.” She launched into motion, moving around the room like some sort of organized tornado. “See Eren!? I was so consumed with your dumbass that I have neglected your spouse!” 

She gently moved Hazel aside so as to reach the crook of her patient’s elbow. The researcher quickly stuck a syringe filled with painkillers into his arm and pumped the drugs into his system.

With him taken care of, Hanji whirled back around to face Eren. “Put a damn cloth on that before you pass out from bloodloss.”

The raven haired man relaxed some as he could feel the immediate effects of Hanji’s pain serum. With his pain fogged mind clearing some, he focused on his partner. “What happened?” he demanded.

Eren offered him a grin, but yelped when Hanji came over and pressed against his head wound. “Moblit and I got the b-” he glanced down at his children who were listening intently and cleared his throat, “them.. We got them. We just got a little carried away..”

Hanji scoffed as she pressed a new piece of the cloth into the wound. “Almost got yourselves killed is what you did,” she muttered.

Levi’s eyes widened, “You got them..?  _ All _ of them, by yourselves?”

The prideful smirk said it all. “Yep,” he boasted, “we took them down a few at a time until we were discovered. Moblit was really helpful in administering the sleeping darts that Hanji made.” He grimaced and let out a light groan. “Hanji not so hard, that  _ does _ hurt.”

“Shut it,” she grumbled. “Hold this here and let me see your arm.”

Hazel and Cayden remained quiet, observing the events 

Eren complied easier than he wanted to, seeing that his exuberant comrade wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.

Levi’s sharp silver gaze trailed over his lover’s form, seeking out the extent of the damage done to him. To his utter relief, there wasn’t much to be seen. This coupled with the fact that Eren was sitting up and acting normally only helped reinstate the fact that he seemed to be in one piece. He wanted to admonish the other for his overall recklessness, but decided not to. Eren had wanted to prove himself by bringing down these men that had grouped against him and hurt him, and his brat had done it. Who was he to tear him down for that?

“You’re alright?” he settled on asking.

The shifter smiled softly, “Yeah, a little bruised and a little battered but I’m okay.”

Hanji finished inspecting his arm, seeming satisfied with what she found. “It’s not broken like I initially thought, might be cracked here though.” She continued muttering to herself for a while, wrapping his arm in some stiff gauze in the offending area.

Eren moved his gaze back to his husband, “Erwin said it’s likely they’ll be sent to the gallows after their court session with the Supreme Commander.” His brilliant eyes darkened then. “I got the leader to admit he was the last culprit involved with the fire…”

Levi accepted the knowledge with a nod. He subconsciously brought their children closer to him, rubbing at their backs as he did. “Good,” he said finally, “they deserve nothing less.” His eyes flickered up to Eren’s face, “And… thank you.”

His heart swelled at the softly spoken words. He gently pushed Hanji away from where she was beginning to bandage his head and went over to the bed. Eren bent over and kissed his beloved on the forehead. “I’m glad it’s all over,” he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, bringing Hazel into his arms. “We can rest easy… for now.”

The captain grunted at his ending statement and pulled him down for another kiss, this time on the lips. “It had better be awhile before the next sh-crap,” he grumbled, chancing a look to their children.

Eren grinned at his corrected word, “Yeah I hope so.” He paused for a moment, appearing hesitant to continue. “I… I told Erwin to send a building crew out to that plot of land we had thought about pursuing,” he admitted.

Levi couldn’t stop a small smile from rising at that. “Hopefully this one will last a lot longer,” he murmured thoughtfully.

His lover nodded fervently, hugging Hazel tightly. “What do you two think about having a house?”

Cayden shot up with an excited gaze, “House?!”

Hazel giggled in delight, “No more Uncle Jean?”

Eren laughed heartily, “Nope, not unless we’re here, babies. You’ll get your own room too!” His eyes, full of affection, landed on Levi then. “And Daddy and Papa will have their own kitchen where we can show you how to make things. I could teach you how to make tea like Papa likes it.”

The twins looked absolutely ecstatic at the prospect and it warmed Eren’s heart.

Levi hummed in thought, “Speaking of tea..”

Hanji cleared her throat and approached. “He can make some after I finish patching him up. I don’t need that precious blood being everywhere.”

“..Not even that bad…” came the answering grumble.

The raven scowled at him. “Let her bandage you, shithead,” he said firmly. “Weren’t you the one yelling about accepting help when you’re injured?”

Eren flushed with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to, you just made me mad and I was tired of you not cooperating..”

Hazel snuggled into him, “No more mad for Daddy and Papa.”

Levi nodded and patted her leg, “Yeah, yeah, no more mad. We’re just playing.”

His partner agreed as well. Then he smirked and leaned over to kiss Levi on the nose and either cheek, knowing full well that it irritated the man. “Yeah, just playing. Daddy loves Papa a whole bunch.”

“And we love Daddy and Papa!” the twins cried together. 

Eren basked in his feeling of pride. Pride for his beautiful family, pride for his wonderful husband, and pride for his job well done. He was glad that he still had it in him to handle things if Levi was down for the count.

* * *

Once the kids had been put to bed, Eren returned to Levi’s side with a cup of tea in hand, knowing the man had been having a hankering for a nice cup. He entered the room quietly, noting that his spouse was lying back in his bed as though asleep.

“You're back,” the raven commented.

Eren flinched slightly, “Oh! I thought you were out.”

Levi grunted. “I probably should be, but I hate sleeping so much knowing I'm missing work and not helping you with the kids.”

He offered a thin smile, “Yeah I'm intimately familiar with that feeling..”

Levi winced, “I've been neglecting you then, if this is always how you feel.”

“It can't be helped,” he tried to dismiss.

“Yes it can, Eren,” came the firm interruption. “I've..” Levi faltered slightly, “I've been a poor partner.”

Eren’s breath caught in his throat at the expression that crossed Levi’s face. He could stand a lot in life, but he couldn't bear having such a tormented expression on his captain’s face. “Levi-”

The older male held up a hand to silence him. “I've always been afraid of messing up and somehow damaging this peace and happiness I've found with you. Or that I would miss something and it would come between us,” he said. “But time kept progressing and I thought that for once I had done it all right.”

Eren listened silently. It was rare for Levi to be so open with him, he knew better than to interrupt. The tea he had brought sat forgotten on the bedside table.

“I'm...sorry I didn't realize that I was wrong,” Levi murmured. “I should've been able to help you through this, I should've supported you and made sure that you weren't feeling so useless while incapacitated.”

Eren shook his head slightly in response. “It's not like I have you any indication that something was wrong,” he said back quietly. “It was something I should've worked through, not internalizing it like I did. I should've trusted that you'd be able to help me.”

“And I should've been able to read you and know something was amiss,” was Levi’s reply. “The thing that makes me so angry with myself is that I look back and see it, I see the signs that I wasn't picking up on every time that it was you lying in this bed… I missed it all.”

Eren smiled softly, “Guess we’ve both been messing up.” He reached forward and took one of his lover’s hands, kissing the bandaged knuckles. “But now I'm wiping the slate clean so we can both work on improving.”

Levi returned the gesture tenderly. “I'd like that, though I've got a lot to make up for.”

“I don't doubt your ability to do so,” Eren breathed.

“I do,” he admitted. “You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I couldn't stand to lose you. Especially if it could've been prevented by me not being so negligent to your needs.”

Eren’s heart fluttered at the blasé admission thrown within his words. He cupped the other’s cheek softly. “Levi.. I'm not going anywhere. You've been everything I could've ever dreamed of as my partner. This is just something I've done to myself, the fault isn't yours. This is just a personal problem of mine.”

Levi beheld him with a leveled gaze, “When I married you, I accepted your problems as mine. Just as you did with my problems. It's my duty to ensure your comfort and safety. I'm failing to do either of those if your emotional turmoil is so great.”

He didn't have a reply for that. His hand dropped as he fell into thought. He knew that his diminished self confidence and insecurity of his self use was an issue, but he had hoped it wouldn't cause any further problems than within himself. And though  his wish had been for naught, Eren knew that his problems needed to be addressed and handled accordingly rather than suppressed and overlooked. And he knew that Levi genuinely wanted to help him figure it out and deal with it, so who was he to deny his concerned lover?

“Okay then,” he relented, “I promise to try and open up more, if you promise to push me to do so when you think I'm internalizing things.”

That familiar smirk made a sudden appearance. “Well I ‘promise’ to do so, if you promise not to get mad when I do.”

He pouted a bit, “I won't.”

“You say that now.”

Eren huffed, “Asshole..”

"Oh shut it,” Levi said with a roll of his eyes, “you love it.”

“Actually I don't love being sassed all the time,” he shot back. “But.. I do love you.”

Levi’s eyes softened, “I love you too, Eren.”

He marveled at how he could always be turned into happy goo just from three little words. With a small sigh, he kicked his boots off and carefully slid into bed alongside his spouse. The familiar warmth of a hand at the small of his back brought forth a pleasant shiver.

Levi hummed with interest. “If I weren't so incapacitated right now, I'd be trying to get more of that from you.”

“Hush you dirty old man.”

“Just you wait.. I'll show you old.”

Eren smirked, “I look forward to it, babe.”


	10. Frustration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Please enjoy this slightly smutty chapter ^v^

Eren and Levi both huffed a small sigh of relief upon reaching their home; having two excitable twins aboard for the ride had been difficult to handle to say the least.

Eren still had to pause and just quietly observe their little house every time he laid eyes on it. It had been almost a year since Levi’s ordeal and almost six months since they had been able to move into their new home. It still seemed surreal to look at it sitting so innocently amongst the various trees scattered about.

“Come on, Eren,” Levi called, already halfway to the front door, “we need to get them into bed soon.”

He couldn’t help a small grin. “Papa is so strict on bedtime, isn’t he?” He asked his four year old daughter.

She shared his grin and nodded, “Papa likes rules.”

Around ten o'clock, the two parents were finally able to retire. It had been a lot more difficult than they had previously anticipated to settle down the twins--they had gone to headquarters for a celebratory dinner and had been unable to qualm the excitement left over once they returned home. A few story books and soft words later though, the twins calmly fell into a sleepy bliss. 

Their fathers, however, were headed toward an entirely different kind of bliss.  

It was no shock to either Eren or Levi that their love life had suffered with the birth of their two miracle children. The twins were something they would  _ never _ regret; however, their bodies were having a hard time becoming accustomed to the new schedule. Sex was a trivial part of the day, and one that rarely happened at this point; especially since the twins’ room was adjacent to theirs in their small home. Waking up four-year-old children with the sounds of their wild love making was not high on the lover’s list of things they wanted to deal with. So a lot of times, it just didn’t happen.

Which also meant that when they found a rare, opportune time when they  _ could _ , they were all over eachother. The twins had a long day, and they were likely to stay down for the night, even with the possibility of disturbances. It was Daddy and Papa’s time to play.

Eren didn’t dare question anything when he felt Levi’s hand slip down to squeeze his ass as they turned out the lights and left the twins to peacefully sleep. Instead he sighed happily, leaning into the touch and scrambling out of the room and towards their own as fast as he could. Levi wasn’t a patient man when he got the urge, but at this point Eren wasn’t either. They needed it. Eren fell back into their plush queen-sized bed, chestnut hair fanning around him like a halo. He opened his legs lewdly, allowing Levi to stand between them as he pushed Eren to lay down. Levi’s skilled hands were gripping his hips, controlling them in the most delightful way as he ground them together, Eren’s own popping buttons off his lover’s shirt in a lustful race. 

It wasn’t long before they were both half-naked, dressed in loosely hanging undershorts and nothing else. Their lips met, but not in the chaste manner they did when in front of others. This kiss was hot and messy, saliva swapping and spilling down their heated faces whenever they pulled away for air. 

“It’s been too fucking long…” Levi growled as he continued to grind their lower halves together sensually.

Eren whined in response, reaching for his husband’s neck and hugging him close as he began to work kisses down his tanned chest. He stopped at a nipple, sucking it harshly and nipping at the sensitive skin so that Eren could do no more than croon under his touch. 

“I’m not going to l-last lon-g...L-Levi….ahhhnn,” the younger choked on the weight of the lust in his chest.

“Me neither,” Levi admitted, hands reaching forth to delve into his husband’s last flimsy article of modesty. 

There was a knock on the door.

The duo froze in their tracks, Levi’s fingers pausing halfway in Eren’s boxers. 

“Fucking shit…” Levi groaned, throwing his head back in exasperation, “just when we get five fucking minutes alone.”

Eren sent him an equally distraught glance before sitting up, covering himself in their comforter and clearing his voice.

“W-what’s up, baby?”

The doorknob wiggled apprehensively before creaking open slightly to reveal a mop of soft chocolate hair.

“Daddy, can come in?” came their daughter’s timid voice, speech stilted with sleep and young age. 

Levi gave a frustrated sigh as he slammed back to rest against the headboard, crossing his arms in a tizzy and covering his excited lower half. Eren shot him a quick glare as he motioned for Hazel to climb up to the bed with them. The little girl trotted over, her feet bouncing off the floor as if she were scared that it would swallow her if she let it there too long. She climbed to the edge of the bed and Eren lifted her in, setting her carefully in the middle of the bed between her dads. 

“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Couldn’t sleep?” Eren asked sweetly, pulling the little girl to rest against his side and stroking her hair lovingly.

Hazel snuggled up to him nervously. She glanced over to Levi, who, through the ache in his lower half, was rubbing her shoulder and trying to calm her as well. She looked into her lap with a little pout on her lips before finally giving a response.

“I had a bad dream…” she said sullenly, gripping her Daddy’s arm tightly in fear.

Eren chuckled softly, kissing the girl’s wavy tresses and hugging her as tightly as she did him. He held her close, looking to Levi with a bitter expression. The older sighed a bit, leaning forward in order to rub a soothing hand across his daughter’s back. 

“It’s okay, baby girl…” Eren murmured, “Everything is okay. Daddy and Papa are here, and we’ll always keep you safe, sweetie.”

Big blue eyes looked to his in trepidation, a nod and a snivel given in response to the gentle smile he gave her. Her little hands gripped tighter onto his forearm, hugging him as if she were afraid he’d disappear.

“Do you want to talk about it, baby?” Eren asked, tilting his head to see her sweet face.

She shook her head, “No. Jus wan’ stay here…” 

Eren groaned internally and Levi gave a disapproving grunt. But they were both huge saps for those big green eyes and couldn’t dare say no to their sweetheart when she was in distress.

“O-ok,” Eren conceded, “but only for a little while okay, sweetie?”

The girl nodded sleepily, shimmying under the covers and snuggling into her Daddy and Papa’s big warm bed. Eren sighed carefully, continuing to card through her hair as she drifted slowly back to sleep. Levi watched him, and when he saw her little face relax gave him a little nod. Eren stood carefully, scooping his sleeping princess into his arms and walking her back to her room. He tucked her back into her bed and went back across the hall to his husband. 

Levi was waiting for him. The second upon which he entered their room, Eren was tackled to the mattress. 

“Seeing you be so maternal was making me lose it, you fucking brat.”

His boxers were being torn from his legs and his hips positioned so that Levi’s view of him was vast and open.Their hips rocked together in unison once more, and it wasn’t long before Eren was solid again under Levi’s skilled attentions. He could barely think through the pleasure continuing to cloud his mind. He whined under his husband’s tantalizing touches, fumbling hastily underneath his pillow for the tube of oil they kept there. Levi was popping open the container to coat himself when there was another knock on the door.

The frustrated groan Levi let out made Eren wonder if the man would’ve slammed his head into the wall if they were against it. The younger watched in a lusty daze as his lover pulled his shorts up again, throwing a blanket over the other who was obviously incapacitated with arousal.

“What?” the man called, the tone somewhere between a growl and a sigh.

“Papa, can come in, peez’?”

Levi groaned again, rubbing his face, totally done with these little interruptions. But he couldn’t just let his son stand there when he needed something. He picked up a pair of sweats from the floor as well as a T-shirt, throwing them on before opening the door and dropping to be level with his tiny son. 

“What, Cayden?”

The boy blinked up at him with long, dark lashes, teal eyes sparking.

“Mm’ hungie.”

“ _ Hungry?” _

Cayden nodded shyly, looking nervous as his Papa stared at him confused.

“Cayden it’s fuc--er, it’s eleven o’clock at night. It’s not time to eat. Why don’t you go back to bed?” Levi leveled.

He ruffled the boy’s charcoal locks dismissively. But Cayden would not be dismissed so easily. He grabbed his Papa’s sleeve, pulling him back and quivering his lip.

“Cann’t sleep, Papa. Tummie hungie,” the boy explained, pointing to his thin tummy as if Levi didn’t understand what he was asking for.

The fucking brat was already picking up on his sarcasm. Great.

“Cayden, I don’t have time for this…” Levi groaned, pinching his brow and rubbing at his face again in exasperation.

The bright-eyed child whimpered a little bit, eyes tearing up as he looked imploringly at his Papa. Why was this kid hungry at fucking eleven at night? Levi hazily remembered the boy not eating all of his dinner today, claiming that the rice was not stewed to his apparently high standards. He sighed and straightened to a stand.

“You’re hungry because you didn’t eat all your dinner, Cayden,” he lectured.

His son opened his mouth to explain again but Levi shut him up, grabbing his little hand gently and leading him to the kitchen.

“I know, I know, you didn’t like it,” Levi sighed. “I’ll get you a snack tonight because I’m feeling nice, but next time you have to eat dinner,  _ got it _ ?”

Cayden nodded eagerly, accepting the crackers and milk Levi offered him. He sat in a chair and munched happily on his midnight snack, Levi carding through his hair and watching to make sure he didn’t choke. When Cayden finished, he helped the boy to re-brush his teeth before tucking the now drowsy boy back into his bed. He left the room with a relieved sigh, closing the door quickly and practically racing back to bed where his lover laid.

“Eren…” Levi called with a sensuous purr as he locked the door.

He climbed on top of his husband, smiling as he saw that he had been preparing himself for Levi the whole time he’d been helping their child. 

“Naughty little thing…” Levi cooed, pinning Eren to the bed in all of his slicked up glory.

The young male smiled up at him brightly, a dark, mischievous glint in those handsome, lust-blown eyes.

“Always for you, babe.”

Levi thrusted his hips, successfully shutting Eren up as they connected in blissful ecstasy. 

“Oh, I’ll make you pay for that one…”


	11. Hostage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the brevity of this chapter, part two will be up very soon. So use this to tide you over! :) We're both gearing up for college and adulting, so we're kind of dying. Plus I'm working full time. Fun stuff. Aria sends her regards, as she usually posts.  
> Tell us what you think <3 See ya soon!

Two days - that's how long Hazel had been missing - an entire 48 hours.

The entire Survey Corps was on high alert, attempting to track the girl or find any trace of her. No one was exactly sure where she had gone or when so they didn't have a precise point of reference as to how long it had been.

Eren was frantic. He kept asking anyone if they had seen where Hazel might have gone to which they all sadly told him they had not. He hadn't slept hardly at all since her disappearance. Every moment without his daughter was agony, every minute he feared more for her well being, every hour his despair grew.

Levi meanwhile had taken up an active role in trying to locate their child. He would disappear during the day only to return at night with bloodstains on his boots and uniform. His long buried habits from the Underground were showing themselves again as he led interrogations all day, searching for any word on where his daughter was.

Cayden was scared. He felt anxious without having his twin nearby, her absence weighed heavily on his mind. He could only watch as his Daddy cried for hours, getting little to no sleep each night. Then his Papa would vanish each day, only to be returned in the morning. He was confused and worried, as even his aunts and uncles were being affected.

With every hour that passed, another piece of him broke with anxiety and rising despair. The only conclusion Eren could come to was that she had been kidnapped. Hazel was never one to stray far from headquarters; and even if she had, she had a strong sense of direction and usually found her way back if ever she got lost.

The small conclusion only further deteriorated him. His family was his everything, the mere thought of them being harmed or in harm's way was one that could've been considered torturous.

Finally a note appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. It was an unnamed sector of the Military Police; they had taken Hazel hostage and proposed a trade - Hazel for Eren.

 

 

 

"I'm doing the trade."

Immediately, Levi was glaring at him. "The fuck you are!"

Eren put up his hand, "No, Levi! I have to do this. Do you have any idea what they might do to Hazel the longer they have their filthy hands on her?!"

"Of course I do, but imagine all the shit they would do to you if they got their hands on  _you_ ," he all but shouted back.

"It's different with me," the younger cried.

"How's that?" The raven challenged.

The situation was really pushing him to his limit; Eren was tired, stressed, worried sick and overall exhausted. "Because at least we know they want me alive," he pointed out, "we can't say the same for Hazel!"

Hanji reluctantly stepped in then, "Levi as much as I hate to admit it, Eren is right. They want to experiment on and study him, they don't want to kill him."

"No," Levi argued, "they want to  _torture_  and  _dissect_  him and in turn would end up killing him. If it wasn't from the torture, it would be malnourishment or sheer exhaustion." His gray eyes were sharp in the dim lighting, "I'm no fool, I know Hazel is in a risky position but I am  _not_ letting you go to the fucking Military Police. We'll figure out another way to retrieve her."

Eren shook his head frantically, "By the time we come up with something they might have already killed her, Levi! I don't want her to be any part of this, she doesn't even understand any of it! She's innocent, I just want her out of the situation."

"And we'll get her out of the situation, just not like this."

With a glare, the titan shifter straightened his posture. "No, this is not your choice to make, it's mine," he said definitively, "and I'm going to make the trade."

" _Eren_ …" his superior hissed in warning.

"WHY CAN'T YOU TRUST ME WITH THIS!?" Eren finally roared as his frustration crested. He stopped himself and took a few deep breaths, "I'm doing what's best for Hazel. Everything they may do to me, they would be just as likely to do to her and I'm not going to stand for that. I can handle it, she would never make it."

Silence encased the small room like a thick and uncomfortable fog. Hanji and Moblit looked anxiously between the lovers.

"Besides," he continued with a small smile, "I know I wouldn't be with them long - you'd come get me, right?"

Levi let out a low growl as he yanked his spouse down for a searing kiss. When they finally parted, their breathing had picked up. He pulled away a bit and looked into those colorful eyes straight on. "Come back to me in one piece," he ordered, "and no matter what hell they put you through, fight those sons of bitches like no other."

Eren nodded with glassy eyes, "I promise."

They lingered in each other's hold, neither wanting to let go. To separate meant that they would go through with the plan. Which meant they'd have to be torn apart for an indefinite amount of time.

"..I'm scared…." The younger breathed.

His raven haired husband let out a weary sigh, "I know." Mentally, he cursed the fact that Erwin wasn't on base, else they might've been able to use his title to their advantage.

" _So what choice have we made?"_ Came a shout from outside; the Military Police awaited them just on the other side of the door.

Eren shuddered but finally detached himself from the other.

Levi's face reflected distaste as they moved towards the door.

"Levi…"

The man turned expectantly.

His brunette lover looked to him pleadingly, "Take care of them while I'm gone, our babies. Don't… don't overlook them in trying to get me back." He reached and clasped his own hand around the one in his hold, "Look after them, keep them happy. And know… that I love you."

His silver eyes softened a bit, "You know I will, brat. I love you too."

Their hands dropped as they exited the room. Eren hardened himself in preparation, knowing his future days would be anything but easy.

The officer that had roped them into the whole situation stood smugly with a terrified Hazel in his grasp. She might've cried out to them if not for the knife at her throat.

He smirked in a knowing manner, "So, what will it be?"

"Give me my daughter and then you can have me," Eren called, sounding more confident than he felt. His legs felt weak, it was positively horrifying to see his precious girl in their clutches. It made him feel physically sick.

He laughed and pulled the blade from Hazel's throat, pushing her forward harshly.

The titan shifter surged towards her, arms open. "Hazel," he cried.

She got up from the ground and ran into his embrace, crying frantically. "D-Daddy! Daddy I'm scared!"

"It's okay baby," he soothed, eyes watching the steadily approaching military police. He pulled her away and held her by the shoulders, "Baby, I need you to go to Papa."

Her face betrayed the insecurity and fear she was feeling, "W-Wha-"

"Please," Eren begged her, tears brimming in his own eyes, "go to Papa and Aunt Hanji. Run." He pushed her lightly in their direction, feeling satisfied when she complied and sprinted into Levi's waiting arms.

The Military Police members swarmed him, instantly locking him in shackles.

The blade that had previously been at his daughter's throat was now conveniently placed firmly against his. He smiled brokenly to his spouse and child as they secured him.

Levi's eyes were tormented as they looked back at him.  _I'll come for you_ , those gray orbs seemed to say.

 _I know you will_ , his said in return.

And then they forced him into a carriage and started off.

The raven haired Corporal could only watch as they left with his lover. Though everything in his screamed to do  _something_ , he restrained himself, unwilling to put Eren at risk. He was in their clutches now, and they might do anything in order to thwart Levi from attacking.

He held their daughter closer, running a hand down her back soothingly.

"W-Why are they taking Daddy!? GIVE HIM BACK," Hazel screamed, fighting her father's hold.

"Hazel," Levi said, "calm down.. Daddy will be fine."

She looked to him tearfully, "But-"

He hugged her closer, "Trust me, baby." His voice was firm and yet consoling, "Daddy will be fine."

Vaguely, Hanji noted his use of Eren's nickname for the kids. He hardly called them by anything but their names. Her heart clenched painfully in her chest.

"We'll get him back, Levi," she murmured to him in a comforting manner.

He scoffed and turned to head back inside, "There's nothing that will stop me from doing so."


	12. Hostage: Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who has read our stories before knows that we are evil people. We just love to put Eren and Levi through hell mwuahahaha. But no, seriously it wouldn't be interesting, heart-pulling, and AoT if there weren't some angst, yeah? So sorry for all of your anguish readers XD ANYWAY I'm back! Sorry for Ghosties' interlude last week, I was really busy having just got back from vacation. BUT IM BACK NOW. IM NOT DEAD.
> 
> But your hearts might be after this chapter...
> 
> We do not own Attack on Titan or the characters belonging thusly.
> 
> ~Aria and the Ghosts, out

 Two weeks. It had taken them two fucking weeks to alert the Supreme Commander of the situation so they could act and save their resident titan shifter. Fortunately as soon as the aged man was made aware of things, he quickly made an executive order for Eren’s whereabouts to be given. Under such an order, the Military Police had no choice but to comply. Disciplinary action was to follow up once Eren was retrieved.

Erwin had already put together a rescue team for when they were given a location. Levi, against the Commander’s wishes, led them into the hellhole that housed his spouse.

No one dared speak as they entered the facility. Levi was a dangerous force leading them forward where others might fear to tread.

The burning smell of sterilization was equal parts disturbing as it was comforting. It could be seen as nothing but positive that they were at least using clean tools and had a controlled environment. But it also meant they had much more at their disposal, which meant more damage could be dealt in various forms.

Levi didn’t think twice when a couple of guards came at him with the intent to kill, he was quick to slice them down. The cadets at his back shuddered at the emotionlessness he portrayed as he did so.

His thoughts were consumed with the well being of his brunette lover. Any number of terrible things could’ve occurred within two weeks. Were he a more religious man, he might’ve been praying then.

The rescue team came upon little to no opposition, all things considered. The bleak halls stretched onwards in a tormenting manner, offering no help in locating their captured comrade.

“Split up,” he ordered, “cover more ground, alert someone immediately if you find him.”

The other soldiers were quick to abide and scurried off in different directions, leaving their senior officer to himself.

With the distraction gone, the Corporal allowed his instincts to guide him. Sure enough, they led him right where he needed to go.

As soon as he stumbled upon the darker hallway, he felt a strong pull to venture forwards. He increased his pace, eyes landing on the heavily enforced door at the end of the hall - a door meant to keep someone in rather than out.

“Eren?”

His resolve strengthened when he got a groan in response. It was weak and drawn out, as if in pain, but it was a response nonetheless.

“Hey what are you doing in here!?” A cry came from behind him. There stood a man in a white lab coat, a set of keys in his hands.

Levi stalked forward and easily disabled the man with a swift and forceful kick to his gut. He didn’t think of him after that, focusing instead on the keys in his hold. He was quick to unlock the heavy door, swinging it open only to pause in shock in the doorway.

It was worse than he had imagined. Eren hung completely limp in the chains that bound him, head slumped forward. If it weren’t for the audible gasping breaths that sounded, Levi would have believed him dead. 

His sharp eyes took in the damage with rising fury. Blisters, bruises, cuts and even open wounds littered his husband’s chest and arms. His legs, while covered with a cheap looking set of pants, appeared weak and possibly broken.

“Eren…” He surged forward and wrapped an arm around the other’s abused form. He then reached up and unlocked the shackles from his wrists, scowling when he noticed that one of them was obviously broken. Levi easily supported the brunette, his heart sinking a bit when he felt how light the other had become.

It had only been two weeks and already so much damage had been dealt.

A cruel and dark rage coiled in his gut but he pushed it aside for the time being. One of his hands reached up to the shifter’s face, stroking his cheek in a comforting manner. “Come on brat,” he murmured, “open your goddamn eyes.”

Another weak moan escaped those split lips as his head bobbled. Then his eyes opened, revealing exhausted green orbs. “L-Levi…?”

“I’m here,” he told the other calmly.

Tears welled up in his lover’s eyes and tumbled down his dirty cheeks, “Y-You’re here… are you real t-this time..?” Eren didn’t wait for a response as he nuzzled into his neck, crying quietly.

Levi couldn’t find a reply as he clutched his husband closer. “How are your legs?” he asked eventually, “Do I need to carry you?” He took a moment to tug off his cloak and wrap it around Eren’s bare torso.

The titan shifter shook his head despairingly, “I c-can’t feel them… they.. they did such terrible things… I-”

“Shh,” he hushed him, “I’ve got you shithead, they won’t lay another hand on you.” The raven didn’t await any kind of response as he gently lifted Eren into his arms, trying to be mindful of the wounds he could see.

He left the cell behind, ignoring the blood spatters on the walls. His foot kicked out at the scientist that still lay on the ground, only a mild sense of satisfaction filling him.

Shortly after leaving the accursed hallway, Eren fell into a state of semi-consciousness. Concern tugged at the senior officer as weak groans escaped his younger lover every so often.

Even in his slightly distracted state, Levi managed to navigate the maze of halls quickly, meeting up with some of the cadets that had accompanied him. “We’re leaving,” he said sharply, “gather the others, if they aren’t here in five we are going without them.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Levi! What’s his condition?” Hanji called to him with her brow furrowed in concern.

Eren whimpered in his arms and nestled closer to his chest, still crying ever so softly.

He tightened his hold just a bit in return, settling in the back of the cart they had come with. “Poor,” he said back, laying down his injured spouse. 

The eccentric woman was upon them in seconds. “Oh Eren…” she whispered in shock, “what have they done to you?” She shook her head and strengthened herself. “Moblit! Bring me my medical bag!”

Moblit wordlessly grabbed a large bag from the front of the supply cart and set it down beside her dutifully.

She was quick to bring out various salves that Levi could only assume would help heal the wounds Eren had. Hanji then dug out a small vial, hesitating some.

This didn’t go unnoticed by the Captain, who eyed her suspiciously.

“This will help with the pain and knock him out,” she said upon noticing his gaze. Her brown eyes were sad, “But I don’t know if he’ll take it.”

Levi deliberated it for only a moment before coming to decision. He gently lifted his love into a semi-sitting position. “Just do it,” he growled, “we can deal with the consequences later. He’s in too much pain to be left conscious.”

Eren let out a delirious moan as if to prove the other’s point. He let his head fall towards the source of warmth beside him. “Mnng Levi…” he whined.

Hanji still seemed conflicted, “..But Levi-”

“No,” came the scathing reply, “ _ do it _ , Hanji.” His silver eyes were dangerous as they looked at her.

The woman let out a defeated sigh before she grabbed gently at the shifter’s chin and let the mixture trickle into his mouth.

Initially the brunette choked on it, trying to prevent it from going down his throat.

“Shh! Shh! It’s alright Eren,” Hanji called in reassurance, “you’re among friends. We won’t hurt you. Just drink.”

It did the trick. He relaxed and reluctantly allowed the fluid to pass down esophagus. The result was almost instant, his body fell slack and his breathing evened out just so.

Levi carded his hand through his brown locks, ignoring the blood and dirt that was within. His thoughts had been consumed by his lover for the past two weeks. Having Cayden and Hazel in a distressed state that whole time hadn’t helped anything.

Seeing as both of his superiors were consumed with caring for the injured shifter, Moblit took control. He did a headcount, noting the presence of all they had left with. “Let’s move out,” he called to everyone, “we need to safely transport our precious cargo back home! We stop for no one.”

“Yes, sir!” The rest of the team chorused.

* * *

“Come on Eren, open your eyes,” a voice pleaded.

He was trying to. He let out a groan at the amount of effort it took. His whole body felt incredibly heavy, like every motion he made was weighted down by lead.

“That's it,” they encouraged him, “come on..”

Finally, he managed to peel back his eyelids and peer up blearily at the person behind the voice. It was difficult to focus, but he definitely could make out brown hair and glasses.

“..Mmmng Hanji..?” His vision began clearing slightly.

She winced slightly at his rough sounding voice but smiled at him regardless, “Hey there, how are we feeling?”

It took his foggy mind a few moments to formulate a reply. “H-Heavy..”

Her brows furrowed with confusion, so she prodded a bit further. “Okay, but any pain? Nausea? Chills? Anything?”

Eren blinked at her but shook his head. “Heavy and tired,” he half slurred.

The answer seemed to relieve her, “Then the pain remedy is doing its job. You can sleep now, Eren. I'll wake you back up eventually.”

He was barely able to nod at her before he was falling back into the clutches of sleep.

* * *

When he finally became aware again, there were low murmurs from all around him. Eren had to make himself focus on the words to understand them.

“...children are gone now, so give your full report of the damage, Hanji,” someone said with authority - Erwin maybe.

He could hear her suck in a deep breath before she began.

“To answer shortly, he was severely malnourished and was exhausted to the point of near death,” came Hanji's voice.

There was collective silence from anyone else present in the room.

“Now specifically, the damage is severe,” she continued gravely. “If it weren't for his titan healing, there's no way he would've survived everything they put him through. starvation, amputation, lashings, beatings… I even found evidence of burns.”

A hand was suddenly wrapped around his with a vice grip. He didn't have to see to know who it was.

Hanji was subdued as she went on, “There were also a lot of broken bones - some had healed incorrectly, so I had to re-break them.” She had come closer as she spoke, placing a soft hand on his forehead. “He's got a fever and flu like symptoms now, which I can only assume is from the treatment he received and his body trying to heal from it. Though it could be that they poisoned him as well. They must’ve been doing things around the clock to inflict such damage.”

He could feel it all, everything ached and pulsed with pain. But he didn’t even have the energy to cry with the amount of pain mounting against him.

“How long will it take for him to recover?” Erwin’s strong voice asked. “We can use that against them in court.”

“Physically - depending on his healing rate - I would say no less than a month or two, probably the latter.” She paused, “But I can't ascertain his mental health, and that's what worries me the most.”

“Doesn't matter how long it takes,” Levi declared, “he’ll be fine with time.”

Eren decided he had heard enough and tried to wake himself more fully. He let out a breathy groan as he dragged himself from the tight hold of unconsciousness. The hand around his tightened.

“Eren..”

It was a difficult task given that his entire body felt so heavy and lethargic. It made him want to slip back into the realm of nothingness, but he needed to see his spouse first. 

He slowly forced his eyes open halfway, struggling to focus on that familiar face.

Levi brought their interlocked hands to his mouth where he kissed Eren’s. “Hey brat,” he called softly.

The shifter blinked heavily but managed a tiny smile, “L-Levi.” It was so hard to even think, his mind was simply too foggy.

“How do you feel, Eren?” Hanji asked anxiously as she hovered nearby.

He glanced over at her wearily, “Everything hurts.. ‘Mmm so tired.”

She bit at her lip, “Do you want something for the pain? It'll make you fall back asleep...”

Eren mulled it over for a moment before giving a stiff nod.

“Okay,” Hanji said soothingly, “lemme run and get some from my lab I'll be back soon.”

Levi had busied himself with stroking the other’s hair. It killed him to see his lover so weakened. Everything about his usually positive demeanor was being overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion; even his eyes seemed dull.

Once again he found himself pondering the unfairness of it all. Why was it that this selfless man who loved his friends and family with fierce loyalty, who protected the citizens that hated him, who served a government that wanted to exploit his abilities, was given the worst luck? Why should he have to suffer so much when all he did was with noble and selfless intention? Where was the fairness of it all?

“Don't.. worry so much Levi..” came Eren’s rough voice. His gaze moved over to him and a wane smile came to his face.

He huffed and answered by kissing his hand again. “I always worry about you,” he muttered.

Eren licked his chapped lips absently, scowling at the feeling.

“Need some water?”

“Please,” he asked politely.

Levi didn't even have to move from his side to procure one, apparently one had already been readied for him. The older male gently lifted him so he could sip. When it was evident he was done, he was lowered back to the bed with the same soft and easy motions as before.

His body laid limply, it had been a long while since he had felt so utterly spent. “How’re mm’babies..?” He slurred in question.

His spouse quirked a small smirk, “They're fine. Better now that you're back, but both still worried about you.”

Eren nodded ever so slightly, “Can’t say they’re.. wrong to be worried. S-Still don’t like that they are.”

“Use it as incentive to rest and recover,” Levi told him, “I can handle them while you do.”

“G-Good,” he wheezed, wincing as he shifted on the bed.

Hanji returned then, needle in hand. “Okay, here we go,” she murmured as she gently injected the serum into his vein. She wiped away the tiny drop of blood that swelled at the injection site and ran a comforting hand down his arm. “Alright that should kick in soon enough. I'll go prepare another dose in case you need it.”

Erwin stepped forward from where he had been silently observing. “I'm going to take the stand in your places, rest assured that due punishments shall be dealt out.

Levi nodded tersely, gaze sharpened.

“I'm also going to propose a security team be permanently stationed around the premises to hopefully ensure this never happens again.”

“Oh it won't,” the raven haired captain snarled. “I'll kill anyone who tries.”

Eren, though on the cusp of unconsciousness, squeezed weakly at his spouse’s hand. “Thank..you, Commander.”

Erwin bowed his head momentarily and made for the door. “I wish you a swift recovery, Lieutenant. You have my sincere apologies that the situation bore such dire consequences.”

The shifter waved off the apology half heartedly, clearly sinking back into sleep.

With everyone gone, Levi stood and planted a kiss at his lover’s brow. “Rest, Eren,” was his firm murmur.

“Stay.. with me..?”

“You couldn't make me leave.”


	13. Hostage: Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO I PROMISE WE ARE NOT DEAD! We are just overwhelmed with starting college and writers block and lack of inspiration, etc! HOORAYYYYYYY! Anyway, here is the next installment, please enjoy! AND SORRY FOR THE WAIT!

 

The recovery was slow and accompanied by regular doses of Hanji's pain remedy. Eren was hardly ever conscious during the first week of being returned. Despite this, he managed to keep from despairing with help from his friends and family.

Levi, of course, sat with him whenever he wasn't with the twins. Hanji checked on him hourly, apparently worried some unforeseen complication would arise in her absence. Armin and Mikasa had been bringing small things for him to eat and sitting with him during their meals. Ymir and Historia had brought the twins in a few times to see him, though he wasn't exactly happy about them seeing him so weakened. Jean, Sasha, and Connie had even come in a few times to tell him about things going on around headquarters.

It was a combined effort to keep him positive, and one that he appreciated.

As another week came and went, he found himself unable to sleep. Hanji had decided to wean him off of the constant pain medicine. Instead he lay in his infirmary room staring at the ceiling for hours, trying not to get lost in his memories.

But they crept in through the corners of his room like ghostly shadows, taking shape before his sleep deprived eyes. Eren tried to convince himself that they weren't real, that he was safe. The darkness that took form of his tormentors convinced him otherwise. His body begged for sleep, but his mind forced itself to remain alert.

He only relaxed the few times Levi came to visit him, it was his one saving grace that didn't come by enough. Otherwise he pretended to be alright, safe for his healing wounds, when others were around. Not one of them seemed to notice the difference. When they were gone, his demons came back full force and made him feel trapped all over again.

It was a cycle of turmoil he wasn't sure he could escape.

* * *

As soon as he had been able to break away from the legal paperwork that had come after Eren's capture, Levi had gone down to the infirmary to check on his brunette. He hadn't had as much free time as he would've liked to stay with the other, and something in him was telling him what a detrimental thing that could be to Eren in his current state.

He entered the private room quietly, so as not to wake his potentially slumbering lover. His sharp eyes immediately sought out that slight form, narrowing with focus.

Eren was curled up, though evidently not without pain. His shoulders shook as soft sobs escaped his lips.

Levi cursed himself and surged forward. His heart broke when Eren flinched and curled into himself tighter with a low whimper.

"N-No more… Please.."

He halted immediately and forced himself to keep a certain distance so as not to startle him further. "Eren," he called softly, "it's me.. It's Levi."

"Levi..?" He slurred deliriously. His head lifted slightly to reveal tormented teal orbs, crystal tears pouring down his cheeks. More tears came as he reached out weakly, "L-Levi! Levi…!"

The raven haired captain approached him swiftly, gathering his battered form into his arms. "Shh it's alright, brat, I'm here now."

"M-My arms were burning and they  _hurt_ so bad… It felt like they had been cut off again," came his choked words. "They wouldn't s-stop…"

Every word made him wish he had disemboweled the bastards with his own two hands. Instead he held his spouse's shaking form closer, trying to sooth him.

"No more, I can't take anymore," he sobbed.

"They can't hurt you anymore, Eren," Levi told him resolutely.

His breaths were coming as wheezing gasps. "They used you against me," he continued feverishly. "When they poisoned me, I got so sick… I thought you were there."

Levi could feel his blood beginning to boil as the shifter unveiled some of the torture he had undergone. It made his gut churn at the mere thought of it.

Eren shook his head, "They made me think it was you, but I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

He couldn't hear anymore. His barely suppressed rage was bubbling dangerously close to the surface. "Hush now," he quietly ordered, "you're not there anymore." Then a thought occurred to him. "You know that it's me, right? I'm really here."

The shifter shakily grasped one of his hands, "Yeah… You're w-warm and it's not cold anymore. Our babies are safe.." His face fell, "Even though it feels like they're still beating me… like I'm broken."

"You're not," Levi said firmly. "They may have damaged you physically, but you're much too strong to be broken so easily."

Eren huddled into his shoulder. "Make me forget, L-Levi," he begged quietly, "help me leave those memories behind,  _please_."

Internally, he froze. He was and never had been good at comforting people. He was so much better at going out and busting the skulls of those who had inflicted pain. Though looking down at his beloved, he knew he had to stay and do his best. Levi held Eren closer, running a hand down his back while he pondered what to say.

"What happened the day you found out you were pregnant Eren?" he asked suddenly. "Do you remember?" Distraction was a tactic that Eren used on their children when they were upset beyond reason, maybe it could work here too.

The brunette in his arms slowed his breathing some, one of his hands grasping at the front of his own shirt in a sign of obvious pain. "Not really," he admitted, "I remember being sick and Hanji being all excited." He heaved a shuddery breath, "Freaking out wondering what you would think."

Levi couldn't help but be glad his spur the moment tactic seemed to be working. "And my reaction," he prodded softly, "do you remember that?"

Eren was quiet for awhile. "I thought you looked as freaked out as I felt. I didn't know how we'd do it, or how I would make it through the pregnancy. It was so different and seemingly unobtainable.."

"You don't remember well enough then," Levi said with a light scoff. "I have seldom shed tears in my life, but that was the first time I have shed tears of joy." He paused and thought back to the moment. "I think that's also the biggest smile you've ever forced out of me."

His lover was quiet, but was obviously tiring, given how much he had sagged against him. It made him ponder just how much sleep Eren had been getting in the recent days.

"What were you thinking in that moment? I couldn't really tell."

A prick of concern hit him at the raspy quality of Eren's voice, but he pushed it aside for the time being. "Honestly.. I was wondering what kind of parent I would be. I knew you'd be great - you with that big ass heart of yours - but me? I had no idea how I would do."

"You've been everything I could've dreamed and more as the papa to our babies," Eren replied immediately.

Levi had a hard time convincing himself that his stomach hadn't fluttered at that.

"I was worried I might mess up and then end up like my father…"

He averted his gaze from looking down at his love. "I worried about the same thing.."

Eren sucked in a large breath and sat up, turning slightly to glare at him. "Shut up. You would never use me and then abandon me like that man did your mother." He smacked him, with what he thought was a lot of strength, on the arm. "You're a much better person than you g-give yourself credit for."

Levi couldn't help a smirk at the familiar sight of those brilliant eyes lighting up to scold him with an honest passion.

A cough wracked through the shifter, his strength left him as another followed.

Levi was quick to catch him as he tumbled backwards, trying his best to avoid the obviously injured areas. "Shit, you alright?"

He heaved a couple more bruising coughs, panting afterwards. His still healing ribs greatly protested to the harsh movement. "S-Still hurts," he managed to wheeze.

The raven's brow furrowed as he pulled his exhausted spouse against him once more. "Easy," he soothed him, "slow your breathing so you aren't aggravating your ribs."

Silence passed between them as Eren regained control of himself. He groaned as the weight of his still healing injuries settled upon him. "Why does it still hurt so much? It's been so long since you saved me.."

"They nearly killed you Eren, it's going to take longer than a couple weeks for you to heal."

Eren didn't directly respond as he painfully rolled himself onto his side, huddling against the older male and successfully trapping him on the bed. "..Stay," came his quiet request, "I can't sleep…"

Levi looked him over and realized how true that must be. It looked as though it had been ages since last he slept.  _I'd be a colossal fool to leave you in this state,_ he thought. "I won't leave you."

Just that little confirmation seemed to relax his exhausted lover.

He adjusted his hold enough to run a hand through Eren's hair. "Once you're more healed, Hanji agreed to let the kids in to see you more. I think for now she's worried they'll unintentionally hurt you."

"Hmm yeah, probably," came the slurred reply, "miss 'em though.."

"I know, I don't like keeping them away but I don't want to risk you being injured any furth-" He halted when his spouse suddenly went entirely limp in his grasp. A closer look revealed that the shifter had merely fallen asleep.

"Finally," Levi muttered, planting a soft kiss to his forehead.

* * *

Eren slept for nearly three days, much to the concern of everyone. When he did finally wake up, he was weak but definitely healing.

Seeing his spouse in a similar state of sleep deprivation, the shifter demanded he go rest. Needless to say, it wasn't a tough battle to fight. He was relieved when the older male relented and headed off to rest.

"It's not like I'll be going anywhere," he had told him.

It was true, though he had healed rather tremendously with the stunted return of his titan healing, his body still felt exhausted from the use of energy. Eren could only describe it as being made to run 30 laps in the heat of the day.

He spent much of the day zoning in and out of sleep, healing the whole time. By the time late evening rolled around, he had taken to thinking over his ordeal and trying to sort through the intense emotions he had felt during his torment.

There was a knock on the door that interrupted his train of thought. He roused himself slightly, sitting up a bit. "Come in," he called.

The door propped open halfway to reveal the twins standing there.

"D-Daddy?" came Hazel's meek call.

Cayden sniffled, "Can we come in..?"

He immediately picked up on their apparent distress, even his weariness couldn't take away his sensitivity to them. "Babies," he breathed out, "what's wrong?"

Taking that as their cue to enter, they scampered up onto the bed on either side of their father. Hazel's shiny eyes looked towards her brother in concern.

"Cay had a bad dream," she told Eren.

Cayden lowered his head and nodded with another sniffle.

Eren pulled them in closer, his hands rubbing their backs soothingly. "Yeah I have those too," he consoled them, "but talking through them helps. Papa does that for me. So what did you dream honey?"

The raven haired boy hesitated. He shared a significant look with his sister and then played with the material of Eren's shirt nervously. "Don't wanna scare you, daddy."

His heart clenched at the soft admission.

"Is a scary dream," Hazel agreed.

His lips pulled into a wane smile almost against his will. "It won't scare me, baby," he said, making sure to keep his voice steady. "I just don't want you to be scared anymore."

Cayden hesitated again but began to speak. "I dreamed Papa got t-taken away too and that me and Hazey were a-alone…"

Eren's eyes filled with tears at the sheer amount of fright in his son's voice.

"A-And then Hazey got took away again a-and-" he sniffled loudly, "a-a-and…" Cayden could say no more. He broke into heart wrenching sobs.

On the other side, Hazel fought back her own tears. She released a low whimper as she huddled into her father's side.

He brought them closer still, wishing in vain that he could somehow shield them from the evil in the world. "Hey, hey, it's alright," he soothed. "Daddy's here now.. It's o-okay." He has to clear his throat from the lump that had formed there, and desperately kept himself from joining them.

"I'm  _never_  going to let them get their hands on either of you again," Eren swore, "Papa is the same." Yes, he'd gladly throw himself freely into the arms of their enemies than see them in harm's way again. He placed a soft kiss to either forehead and attempted to give them a sweet smile. "Besides, Papa is too strong to get taken by the bad guys."

Cayden hiccuped faintly, "Was s-so scary…"

Hazel sat up from Eren's right and grabbed one of her twin's hands in comforting gesture, holding it tight against her chest.

It was quiet for awhile while the three of them sat in silent comfort of each other's presence.

Eren finally spoke quietly, once Cayden's cries had softened. "It's okay to be scared, everyone feels that way sometimes. I-" he swallowed stiffly before continuing. "I felt that way being away from Papa and you two."

He had foolishly believed that his initial treatment at the hands of the infamous Military Police would be one his scariest encounters with them. Now he looked back on such interactions with a bitter chuckle at his own impudence. It anything had come of his misadventure with their enemy, it was proof of their power and downright vileness.

Cayden shot up and embraced him tightly, ignoring the wince and slight gasp from his father at the action. "No more scary times!" he begged, "n-no more."

Hazel patted his back in a way that was reminiscent of the way Eren had before. "S'okay Cay, Daddy's back now. Daddy and Papa will keep us safe."

Eren was quiet for awhile but he eventually nodded. "Yeah, Papa will keep you two safe, he's good at that."

The amendment didn't go unnoticed by his daughter who shot him a pointed look. "Daddy too," she said urgently, "Daddy is strong like Papa, but not the same. You strong in another way."

Cayden, quickly catching on, wiped his eyes. "Yeah, Daddy's strong even when he's scared," he agreed.

He desperately wished he believed those words, but everything in him denied it. A quiet and hollow chuckle escaped him. "I'm not as strong as Papa," he murmured, "I wish I was, but I-I'm not babies. I can't even fight off bad men like Papa."

She shook her head fervently, "No! Daddy went and fighted off bad guys when Papa was hurt! You strong, Daddy."

"Daddy smiles even when he's scared, even when he hurts. That's super strong," Cayden added.

His heart clenched again at their words. Eren shook his head with tears beginning to trail down his face. "You two are impossible, just like your Papa…"

"'Cause we're right," they insisted together.

"I just want you both to be strong like Papa, to stay away from the bad men," he breathed. His gaze lifted slightly to meet theirs, they looked so genuinely concerned that it made his breath hitch. "Daddy c-can't seem to escape them, but you two always have to get away. Will you promise me that you'll always get away?" He pleaded to them.

They frowned and snuggled up to him, both offering quiet promises.

"Why don't you know you strong, Daddy?" Cayden asked gently, "Is it because of the bad men?"

Hazel scowled, "We will chase them away and make Daddy see!"

A weak sob made it past his lips, "B-Babies.." How could he ever explain what he was feeling to them? Would they ever understand how deeply his insecurity ran even after years of being with the one person that made him feel whole and worth every moment in a day? Levi had given him everything - his entire purpose in life back, and yet still he struggled.

"We will grow big and strong so we can chase the bad men away," Hazel vowed.

Cayden nodded, "Yeah! That way Daddy won't hurt anymore."

The sudden realization hit him then that their words touched him in a similar way to Levi's. To them, he was one half of their everything. He  _mattered_ to them, he was  _important_  to them; so much so that they wanted to protect him from the evils he faced without even knowing part of their true cause. Sure, he had plenty of physical enemies, but his inner demons still waged war in his head despite Levi's ability to make him ignore them. Yet, his children didn't know that, and didn't care. All that mattered to them was their parent was hurting, from some sort of pain, that had stemmed from the bad men that had taken him.

The dam broke free and he fell into quiet sobs.

Hazel and Cayden held either of his hands and occasionally reached up to wipe his face.

So deep was the moment, that none of them noticed when Levi entered and leaned against the door. When the twins had awakened him after Cayden's dream, he had sent them to Eren in hopes that they would be able to help him mend the fractured spirit of his love. He might've been able to do it alone, but seeing their two children then made him feel good in his decision.

Eren finally noticed him and offered a small and watery smile, "T-This your doing?"

He returned it with his own soft smile as he approached, "Who's to say?"

The twins moved to one side so their Papa could take up the other.

"It's okay now Daddy," Cayden said, "we help you get better."

Hazel grinned and nodded happily, "Uh huh!"

Levi raised a brow but then chuckled. "You're not alone in this Eren, You've got your own support group to help you heal."

He laughed wetly and pulled them all close, kissing three cheeks as he did. "I love y-you all," he whispered.

"We love you more," Cayden whispered back.

Levi rolled his eyes, but his amusement was clear to see.

Eren felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders, and as exhaustion tugged him back towards sleep, he thanked his mother for giving him the chance that led to such a wonderful life with his three favorite people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHoOpS we wrote more happy angst. Anyway, read and review! Enjoy your holidays and all that jazz!


	14. Humanity's Strongest Papa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Coming at you with another update (finally). Have some fluff after the mess that was Hostage. -shudders- Ghosties was feeling particularly savage that day.
> 
> An important note for this chapter: we have decided the kiddies are advanced in growth and spoken language given all the adults they've been growing up around. So they are smart twins with a pretty vast vocabulary!
> 
> Please enjoy, next update will come sooner, promise.

There was a soft knock on the door followed by the telltale creak of the door opening. Levi turned in his office chair to admonish whoever was walking in unwelcomed before he heard a small voice.

"Papa?"

His posture softened as he faced the tiny visitor. "Come in, Cayden," he said.

The boy walked in, a shy smile on his face, "Hi Papa…"

He waved his son in. "What's up, Cayden?" He could practically see the curiosity oozing from him.

The child shuffled in shyly. He looked up to his Papa with sparkling teal eyes. "Uhhm, me and Hazey was talking to Aunt Hanji today…" the boy began.

Uh-oh. That couldn't be good. Levi tried to hide his eye roll. "Oh yeah? And what did she say this time?"

Cayden looked down shyly before showing his Papa a bright smile. "Papa are you Humanity's Strongest?" he asked quietly.

Mild surprise crossed the raven's face at his tiny son's question. "Yeah, I am." Though it wasn't exactly a title he particularly enjoyed having over his head. But having it thrust upon him also apparently meant he could never deny the claim as experience had taught him.

The boy's eyes went wide like saucers, "R-really?!"

"Yeah…? Something wrong, baby?" Levi asked warily. He wasn't sure why the child seemed so surprised.

Cayden's eyes lit up like glittering gems-full of wonderment and stars. It was so much reminiscent of Eren that Levi felt warmth pool in his chest.

" _My_ Papa is Humanity's Strongest…?!" A huge smile lifted the twin's face, "So you're the best soldier ever?!"

Levi stared at him, confused, "Er, something like that…"

The boy gave an excited shriek, running forth and tackling his Papa in bone crushing hug. "Papa is the strongest ever!" He looked up at him with shining grin, "You're my hero Papa!"

Levi chuckled, hugging the boy close and ruffling his hair. "If you say so, brat. But you can be just as strong as me someday too, Cayden," he told him.

The little raven gasped, "Really?! I can be the fastest and bestest in the whole Survey Corps?!"

Cayden jumped back excitedly, his little hands going into a sloppy salute. His hand was on the wrong side and his fist was loose, but it was adorable nonetheless. He smiled up at Levi with a toothy grin, "Teach me Papa! I wanna be just like you!"

Levi ruffled his boy's hair and laughed again. "You'll have to work  _really_  hard but I'm sure you can do it. First off…" Levi grabbed his son's hands and repositioned them into a proper salute. "Let's fix that salute soldier…"

The boy's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment at his own improper salute and nodded furiously as it was fixed.

"Okay Papa! I wanna get strong so I can protect Hazey and Daddy like you do!" Cayden said.

Levi smirked, "That's a good reason Cayden. That's why your Papa stays in it, even though you and Hazel were born. It's so I can protect my  _favorite_  people."

He tickled the boy's tummy, making him giggle maniacally. When he stopped tickling, Cayden wrapped his arms around his Papa's neck and climbed into his lap.

"Daddy is in it too, isn't he?" Cayden paused for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. "Can Daddy really turn into a titan?"

Levi hugged him, petting his smooth black locks.

"Daddy is...and he can. But that's something you'll have to ask him about. Sometimes talking about it upsets him, so if you want to know you'll have to ask him really nicely."

Cayden snuggled closer to him. "Is it scary?" he asked in a small voice.

Levi scowled a bit at his son. Didn't he just tell him to ask his Daddy? But looking at those bright teal eyes he knew he couldn't say no. He sighed, "It can be...but Daddy is a good titan and you can tell because even when he changes he does good things," he explained.

Cayden frowned, "But you're not scared of  _anything_ Papa!"

Levi ruffled his hair, "Just because I'm strong doesn't mean I don't get scared sometimes, Cayden. What makes me strong is that even when I am scared, I fight through it."

"Then why do some people not like you and Daddy? You're the strongest hope of the Survey Corps!"

"Some people…" He trailed off. How was he supposed to phrase this in a way that his son would understand and yet not hate the world he lived in? He rubbed his son's back gently as he tried to figure out his words.

"Some people...just can't see the good in people. They don't see Daddy for the happy and kind man he is, all they see is that he can turn into a titan. And it scares them. So they lash out because they don't know how to deal with it otherwise."

He kissed his son's head.

"Your Daddy goes through a lot...but he keeps a strong head and heart. That's why Papa loves him so much."

"Is that why Daddy looks so sad sometimes?"

Levi frowned, "Yes. So on those days be sure to be extra good and tell Daddy you love him."

It was quiet for a beat before Cayden thought of something else.

"But would they ever hurt Daddy? Is that why he was so sick that one time?! A-And what about you Papa! They wouldn't hurt you just because you love Daddy would they…?"

This kid was smarter than he looked-Levi didn't know how to tell him everything he said was true. They  _would_ hurt him. And Eren. And their children if they had to, just to get their horrid point through. Levi didn't know at all what to say.

"Papa…?"

"People do bad things when they're scared, Cayden." He murmured after a moment.

The look on the boy's face was one of pure shock.

"B-But Papa no! They're not allowed to!"

Cayden shook his head and burrowed further into his father's grasp. Levi held him tight.

"Your Daddy and I have faced a lot of tough times. There are many out there who seek to ruin us and think our relationship is sacrilege. There are others who think that Daddy should be taken away. But the good people outweigh the bad, Cayden. I want you to remember that if you ever get scared. There are many people who would give life and limb to see us live happily."

Cayden sniffled, obviously on the verge of tears. "They're the same ones that took Hazey. I don't like them!"

"I know baby-some people do bad things. But things turned out okay. And they always will. I promise. We will do anything to keep you and your sister safe."

Cayden smiled a sweet smile, reaching up and touching his Papa's cheek gently. "That's why you're Humanity's Strongest," he declared, "you're just strong all around."

A warm feeling swelled in Levi's chest. To think that his child thought that much of him...made his heart sing. He smiled a genuine smile and kissed Cayden's cheek. "I guess you're right…"

He smiled brightly then tapped a finger on Levi's shoulder, getting his attention again. "But Papa! Who is stronger! You or Daddy?" the boy asked.

Levi was glad at the change of topic. He was about to open his mouth to respond when someone did for him.

"Papa is for sure. I don't even come close," said Eren, walking casually into Levi's office.

Levi smirked, "Fuck right I am."

Cayden gave his Papa a sideways glance. Eren glared.

"Levi! Language!" he hissed, nodding his head at the child in his lap.

Levi shrugged noncommittally, "Sorry."

Eren rolled his eyes before going and plucking up their son, tickling his sides and making the child giggle.

"And where have  _you_ been little mister? I've been looking for you for a while now…"

Cayden gave him a shy smile, "Aunt Hanji said Papa was Humanity's Strongest. So I had to check to be sure!"

Eren laughed at the boy's grand gesture. Then Cayden's face turned serious and he held his Daddy's face between his hands.

"Hey Daddy?" he asked.

Eren shoot Levi a quick glance before looking back at his son, "Yeah baby?"

Cayden looked back at Levi for reassurance before continuing. The man gave him a small nod.

"Daddy I love you...and your titan! And I'm gonna get strong like Papa so I can keep the bad people away from you!" Cayden declared.

Eren looked shocked. "You...what?"

Levi smiled.

Cayden suddenly wrapped his Daddy in a big hug. "I'm gonna be Humanity's Second Strongest! Just you see Daddy!"

Tears sprung to Eren's eyes as he held his child back tightly. "Oh my baby boy...you're growing up too fast," he cried softly. He looked up at Levi with a soft, tearful smile.

Levi rolled his eyes at the sappy scene but joined the two in their bear hug nonetheless.

Cayden giggled, "Is this Humanity's Hope? Super big bear hugs?"

There was a sudden whine from the doorway.

"Heeeyy no fair! Don't leave me out!" Hazel huffed, racing forth and tackling into the hug pile.

Eren grinned and Levi smiled as they held together their little family.

"I think we're looking at our two strongest hopes right here," Levi said, ruffling his kids' hair.

Eren smiled gently, "I think you're right."


	15. Accidents Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghosties here giving you another update since the last was so short. This chapter is based off of my personal experience as a kid, and it just happened to my nephew recently.
> 
> This is more angsty/drama stuff. Sorry not sorry. Next few chapters will be light and happy though!
> 
> We're slowly making our way into phase two of this story! We're excited to see everyone's reactions. So please hold on to your butts.

As soon as he heard the shriek of pain, he knew something was wrong. There was something about the sound of it that sent a chill down his spine.

Eren shot up from his relaxed position on the blanket that he had laid out earlier. He visually searched the surrounding area fervently for any sign of his children.

"DADDY!" Came Hazel's frightened shout from somewhere nearby.

Immediately after he had laid eyes on his little girl, he was running to her. Fear climbed up from his stomach and latched onto his heart as he came upon the scene.

Hazel stood off to the side looking scared. Cayden lay in a heap on the ground, sobbing and gasping, and clutching tightly at his right arm.

Seeing as they were at the base of a tree Eren had always thought looked good for climbing, it didn't take him long to connect the dots. He spat out a few curses and surged forward, falling to his knees next to his wounded child.

Cayden was practically choking on his own ragged breaths, his face red from crying so hard. A quick glance at his arm let Eren know that it was broken.

"Baby, baby," Eren stuttered, a bit in shock from the situation. "I-I need you to breathe, okay? I know it hurts, baby, I know. But you need to breathe, Cayden."

The raven haired boy looked deliriously to his parent, sobs and hiccups pouring from his lips.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest at the sight. Biting at his lip, he ever so gently lifted the boy into his arms; all the while trying desperately not to jostle the freshly broken appendage. He managed it with limited success given the strangled cries that escaped the child in his arms.

With Cayden situated for the moment, he stood and began moving off towards the entrance door. He stopped when he noticed Hazel wasn't beside him. He turned his head back in the direction he had come from.

She was standing and staring at him in something akin to shock, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Come on baby," he called to her urgently, "we need to get your brother to Aunt Hanji." She made no move to come to him, so he tried again. "Hazel, come on!"

The brunette flinched and scurried to catch up with him, staying quiet the entire time.

With her hugging close to his side, Eren started off for the indoors once more. Cayden whimpered and cried loudly in his arms, the sounds tearing his heart to pieces.

He felt as though he had failed his son. He should've been keeping a closer eyes on his kids to ensure they wouldn't get into such a situation. But he hadn't, he had failed. Guilt hit his system in an overwhelming measure and tears stung at his eyes.

"Eren? What's going on?"

The question startled him from his thoughts, causing him to slightly jostle Cayden who whined at the motion. The tears finally fell as he shushed the raven haired boy, planting kisses on his forehead and cheeks. His bright eyes sought out the researcher who was approaching with a concerned expression.

"H-Hanji," came his broken call.

She came and hovered nearby, intelligent eyes immediately zeroing on Cayden's arm. "Oh… okay," she breathed out, "to the infirmary, then." Hanji shot Eren a quick glance before putting a hand on his back and pushing him along. She peered over her shoulder as they were walking off, "Hazel, go find Auntie Mikasa and have her keep you company, okay sweetheart? She's just inside there."

Hazel faintly nodded and wandered into the cafe to do as she was told.

Meanwhile, the trio made their way to the infirmary. Cayden whimpered and cried the whole way, face burrowed into his Daddy's shirt.

Guilt wracked him, twisting his gut in a vice-like hold. He knew that expression would be burned into his mind for months to come.

This was all his fault.

 

* * *

 

"Hazel, you call us if he starts acting weird or anything, alright?" Levi called as he was leaving leaving their room.

The girl nodded dutifully from her spot on the bed beside her brother. His arm had been plastered up solidly, and he had almost instantly given in to sleep once Hanji had given him so medicine for pain. Hazel was gentle as she laid down next to Cayden, planting a soft kiss on his brow.

Satisfied, the Captain shut the door gently with a small sigh. His silver eyes sought out his lover's form which was sitting hunched over on the couch, head in his hands.

When Mikasa had showed up in his office with a crying Hazel, he knew something was terribly wrong. He had scooped up his child with a quick thanks to his sister-in-law, and hurried down to the infirmary. The image of Eren crying while cradling their son, who was crying hysterically with his arm being wrapped up by Hanji, was something he wouldn't soon forget.

"Eren.."

"I'm s-such a bad parent for letting this happen," Eren said in a shaky tone.

Levi scowled at him and approached. "Eren, a freak accident happening when you have the kids doesn't make you a bad parent."

He raised his head to half glare at him, "That's easy for you to say b-because it never would've happened on your watch!" Tears began rolling down his cheeks, "I-I'm not attentive enough… This is all my fault."

The raven haired man sat beside his spouse then, grabbing one of his hands. "No it's not, shithead," he argued, "this very well could've happened while I was watching them."

"You would've never even let them near the tree," came Eren's pathetic blubber.

He huffed and grabbed his partner, holding him to his chest in the way he knew the other craved. "Maybe not, but those two are fast. They very well could've gotten up there before even I could stop them."

It took a moment for the younger to collect himself in order to speak again. "I should've known better… it's my fault he's in s-so much pain. All m-my fault."

"It's not you, Eren, sometimes shit like this happens," he assured him with soothing rubs to his back. He hated seeing the other so distraught - and he absolutely hated seeing him cry, he always had.

There was a time of relative silence as the titan shifter relished in the attention his lover was giving him. It didn't exactly help the fact that he had messed up, but it helped reaffirm that Levi wasn't upset with him over the fact.

"..At least now the little shit will know not to climb trees without help."

Eren gave a wet snort, burrowing himself further into the Captain's sturdy chest.

Levi kissed the top of his head, "And as far as something like this goes, it's hard to prevent. Even if we tell them no, they are equipped with their own troublesome mind - which means if they decide they're going to do something, they're going to fucking do it. Kids are a pain in the ass that way."

"…"

The older male pulled them both backward to lounge on the couch, letting out a tired sigh as he did. "He'll heal Eren. Not as quickly as you do, but he'll heal."

"...What would I do without you?" came his muffled inquiry.

A warm huff emerged from his lover, "I don't know, what would you do?"

He sat up suddenly, looking down at him in shock. "What  _would_  I have done without you? I… Everything I am is because I'm with you. I'm stronger, happier, and better than I was before you.." His eyes filled with an affectionate glow as he looked down to his spouse, "You've given me hope, a-a family.. a life I'm proud to be living…. You've given me children. You've given me everything I have, Levi."

Eren was a bit surprised to see the slightest hint of pink tainting that pale face.

"No need for all of that sappy bullshit, brat," was Levi's grumbled reply.

He beamed and captured the other's lips. "Thanks for cheering me up, babe, I needed that." His gaze lowered, "I still hate that he got hurt.. That's still my fault."

Levi tugged him back down. "Shit happens. Just support him and help him heal. You may not forgive yourself but he'll forgive you, if he's even upset with you - which I highly doubt."

"How would you know?"

"You're his daddy," he pointed out, "he could never hate you, even if he one day says he does. He loves you too much." Levi scoffed, "Plus he's smart enough to realize it's his own damn fault for climbing the tree in the first place."

Eren said nothing but shifted a bit.

His spouse rolled his eyes, "Or you can just feel guilty until he's healed, because you won't fucking listen."

"I am listening," the brunette whined.

"There's a difference between listening and hearing, dumbass."


End file.
